Green Elephant Line Media Backgrounder

Omnibus Lands Bill a Chance for Republicans to Reinforce Conservation  Record

February 9, 2009

Republicans were the original conservationists. Starting with Abraham Lincoln's protection of Yosemite Valley, land protection has been a traditional hallmark of Republican leadership. In recent years, some Republicans have lost sight of that tradition, allowing conservation to be  polarized needlessly along partisan lines.

This week will present a great opportunity for Republicans to reclaim their conservation tradition, when the House considers a wide-ranging omnibus lands bill, S. 22. The legislation swept through the Senate last month with a thumping bipartisan majority in support.

S. 22 has 160 elements, including 16 sets of wilderness designations and establishment of three national conservation areas, a national monument, three wild and scenic rivers, six national scenic and historic trails, three national parks, and 10 national heritage areas. It would give statutory permanence to the National Landscape Conservation System, America's newest network of protected public lands, which protects remote wildlands and historic sites in the West.

There is plenty more, including withdrawal of parts of the spectacular Wyoming Range from oil and gas leasing, and authorization of oceans research, mapping, and exploration programs.

S. 22 is the most important conservation bill to come up in Congress since the California Desert Protection Act was adopted in 1994, with crucial support from Republican senators, including Judd Gregg, whom President Obama tapped last week to serve as Commerce Secretary.

Why Conservation Is Conservative
Protecting a nation's natural and historic heritage is inherently conservative, because it secures the wellsprings of America's liberty and culture. As Ronald Reagan said in a 1984 speech, "What is a conservative after all but one who conserves, one who is committed to protecting and holding close the things by which we live."

The late Congressman John Saylor, the Republican who co-sponsored the 1964 Wilderness Act, said conservation is a trust responsibility. There is nothing conservative about consuming resources with abandon and leaving nothing for future generations. Theodore Roosevelt, the greatest Republican conservationist, said Americans have a duty to prevent wasting "the heritage of unborn generations."

In recent years, too many Republicans have lost sight of that traditional conservative sensibility. In a 2005 Wall Street Journal commentary, Reagan speechwriter and conservative author Jeffrey Hart wrote that conservatives ought to be embarrassed to leave environmental stewardship entirely to liberal Democrats.

By supporting S. 22 when it comes up for a vote in the House this week, Republican leaders have a great opportunity to embrace their conservative conservation heritage and protect many of the special places that tell America's story.