Preservation a weak spot in Republican agenda

I was shocked reading about the overwhelming response to save the Pactola Lake area. That there are people still living in the Black Hills who care enough to defend some of it from destruction might be a watershed moment in South Dakota politics. 

Often powerless to resist the extractive industry the Black Hills National Forest took comments on a 2021 proposal from F3 Gold to drill on 2,500 sites near Silver City and explore above the Rapid Creek inlet to Pactola Reservoir on claims that actually extend into the lake. But on 17 March, the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service announced a proposal to protect tribal, cultural and natural resources in the reservoir recharge.

Today, putting the country on the path of protecting at least 30 percent of our land and 30 percent of our ocean areas by 2030 (30×30) is imperative to preserving public lands especially now as the worst megadrought in at least 1200 years is driving desertification in most of the western United States. A supermajority of registered voters in the Mountain West agrees according to bipartisan polling conducted by the Colorado College State of the Rockies project.

The New Mexico and Nevada legislatures recently considered constitutional amendments to guarantee the right to a clean environment, and while the bills didn't pass, they reflect a national trend as environmentalists seek legal leverage under state law to fight polluters. So-called "green amendments" highlight a person's inherent rights to clean air, water and soil. State constitutions in Montana and Pennsylvania, written in the early 1970s, were the first to guarantee the right to a clean environment. Other states that have introduced green amendment legislation include Iowa, Texas, Maine, Connecticut and Tennessee, according to the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators. [Mountain West states at center of movement to make a clean environment a constitutional right]

See why the first lines of political defense are county commissions and why environmental lawyers are essential to democracy? The US Environmental Protection Agency gets involved when the process breaks down. The US Fish and Wildlife Service enforces critical habitat and Democrats care more about this stuff than the redstaters do. I'm a single-issue voter. Earth first. See how simple?

This is a weak spot in the Republican agenda and if enough people believe preservation is a bankable position the South Dakota Democratic Party needs to exploit it by fielding candidates who can convince voters to reject politicians like John Thune, Kristi Noem, Mike Rounds and Dusty Johnson who work for the grazing, mining and logging profiteers at the expense of public lands. 

Interior is far more responsive to public outcry than USDA is, for sure. The Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service should be merged and become the US Forest and Land Management Service. 

This is the way. 

Expect discussions about the USFS to heat up during farm bill negotiations as wildfire season flares says Dave Mertz.

Learn more at South Dakota Searchlight.