Promoting Unity in Biden Administration Policies: Alternatives to Monument Proclamations
President Biden said in his inauguration speech:
History, faith, and reason show the way, the way of unity.
We can see each other not as adversaries but as neighbors.
We can treat each other with dignity and respect.
We can join forces, stop the shouting, and lower the temperature.
For without unity, there is no peace, only bitterness and fury.
No progress, only exhausting outrage.
No nation, only a state of chaos.
This is our historic moment of crisis and challenge, and unity is the path forward.
OF course, the more cynical among us will say “beautiful words but the President has no choice but to hire people he owes- political operatives- to carry out his policies, and they have made no such pledge.” In fact, I’m not sure that those operatives have the skills or patience that even the humblest member of a humble forest collaborative might have.
Still, folks are always talking about “holding people accountable” and I don’t see anyone else attempting to hold the Biden Admin accountable, except possibly R’s- but it’s hard for me to see any truths through the murk of partisan mud-slinging. So I think I’ll rate Biden Admin efforts on a 10 point scale where 10 is unifying and 0 is pointedly not “lowering the temperature..” what I have previously called “a sharp stick in the eye.”
I would give the Bears Ears decision a zero. Here’s what I would have done instead.
First of all I’d make an announcement.
This back and forth over Monuments has gone on too long. We need to establish a solution that takes into account the views of all parties and that all parties can live with over the long-term, that will stand the test of time. These decisions should not be made by strokes of the pen in DC nor by the federal courts, but by the people- including all the people who are affected. That’s the only way we understand fully, and incorporate social and environmental concerns as well as justice, in an open and transparent way. My goal is to provide support for a long-term solution, considering all previous efforts, and building on the agreement that we already have. These lands are important to all of us, and deserve the best we can give them through deliberation on an array of ideas and approaches. I want the success of my Administration to be measured by the relationships we have improved, and the trust we have built, as well as the end-product of an agreement. I want to value the role of peacemaking inside our country as we value it in the international realm.
Process-wise, I’d try to take down the temperature and deal with on-the ground questions with a wide range of alternative and collaborative approaches:
*Sat down with political leaders in Utah, all Tribes, as well as other stakeholders, and design a collaborative process with the help of professional environmental conflict resolution folks. The FS does this for humble regulations, so why not a massive land use decision?
*As part of that, starting from a ground based process.. what do you want to protect the area from? Mining, oil and gas, OHV’s, vandalism?
*Have an opportunity for public comment on specific issues.
*Intentionally find people to serve that both “sides” respect as well as folks from both “sides”, including Tribes who hold different views. Have them analyze the current protections. Which ones are working well and which ones aren’t working? Where and why? Does the solution (say, to vandalism or illegal ATVs) require something that drawing lines on maps won’t provide? If so, what are mechanisms to make that happen?
*Have Tribes look at different options of “advisory committees” and “co-management” and design a process for being involved, what kind of decisions, what level, what kind of authority?
Overall, the point would be to take the issue from a partisan political football to an atmosphere of place-based joint problem-solving, which… we have a history of doing. Colorado and Idaho Roadless were examples of such processes. They took the symbology of Roadless Protection and crunched through the details specific concerns in specific places with people who are affected. And at the end, even with partisan politics, did deals that everyone can live with.
For those interested, Stacy Young wrote an interesting article in the Canyon Country Zephyr on the legalities and some legal history.
I tend to think of the Antiquities Act as perhaps a sidelight, and the legal case following from the idea that “having a Monument is the Right Thing and using this tool we can override other views.” Pragmatically, though we all could save ourselves a lot of legal and communication work and vast amounts of NGO money (and spend it on law enforcement around there instead?) by the Administration instead simply saying.. “we believe we can work through this together in an atmosphere of mutual respect. That is our passion and our promise.”
We can join forces, stop the shouting, and lower the temperature.
For without unity, there is no peace, only bitterness and fury.
No progress, only exhausting outrage.
No nation, only a state of chaos.
This is our historic moment of crisis and challenge, and unity is the path forward.
Those are powerful words, Mr. President and if you need help translating them into action (in our humble area of federal lands and forests), I’m right here.
Superforest
via The Smokey Wire : National Forest News and Views https://ift.tt/2IwCxTZ
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