[MCN] "Sportsmen's" Act would gut the Wilderness Act and Public Lands Protections

[Matthew Koehler]

Hello:

Below is an action alert from Wilderness Watch. Please read up to learn
more about the anti-Wilderness and anti-Public Lands provisions in the
so-called Sportsmen’s Heritage and Recreational Enhancement (SHARE) Act.

The SHARE Act (H.R. 3668) is scheduled for a Congressional hearing
tomorrow, Tuesday, September 12th and will be 'marked up' this Wednesday.

Unless I missed it, prominent "Sportsmen's" groups based in Missoula (such
as Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, Boone and Crocket Club, the Theodore
Roosevelt Conservation Partnership and Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation) have
done nothing to alert their members to all the anti-Wilderness and
anti-Public Lands provisions in the SHARE Act (H.R. 3668). Heck, some of
these "Sportsmen's" groups may even support the SHARE Act.

Please read the alert from Wilderness Watch below. It includes a detailed,
in-depth analysis of the bill and also a link where you can send a email to
the Montana Congressional delegation.

Thanks to all fellow backcountry hunters and public lands, wilderness and
wildlife advocates for speaking out and taking action against the terrible
anti-Wilderness and anti-public lands provisions in this bill!

- Matthew Koehler

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*Sportsmen’s Heritage and Recreational Enhancement (SHARE) Act Would
Gut the Wilderness Act and Public Lands Protections!*


*Every unit of the National Wilderness Preservation System threatened*
TAKE ACTION: https://wildernesswatch.salsalabs.org/shareact2017/index.html

All hands on deck Wilderness Watchers! The most virulent, anti-wilderness
Congress in history is at it again!

We’ve just completed a brand new analysis <http://bit.ly/2vlQShz> of the
"Sportsmen’s Heritage and Recreational Enhancement (SHARE) Act of 2017" and
it's crystal clear that *this bill is nothing more than a thinly disguised
measure to gut the 1964 Wilderness Act and the protections afforded to
every unit of America’s 110 million-acre National Wilderness Preservation
System.*

The SHARE Act (H.R. 3668) is scheduled for a legislative hearing on
September 12, 2017. The bill text of is available here
<http://bit.ly/2ji6GfP>.

Our new analysis of the SHARE Act also corresponds with a leaked memo
*McClatchy *obtained and reported on recently <http://bit.ly/2wGh1ay> that
found the Trump Administration has so far prevented the National Park
Service from voicing its serious concerns over the National Rifle
Association (NRA)-backed SHARE Act. When the Park Service shared such
concerns in a memo to the Department of Interior (DOI), the DOI responded
by crossing out the Park Service's comments, and the agency was told not to
go to Congress.

H.R. 3668 would give hunting, fishing, recreational shooting, and state
fish and wildlife agency goals top priority in Wilderness, rather than
protecting the areas’ wilderness character, as has been the case for over
50 years.

*The SHARE Act would allow endless, extensive habitat manipulations in
Wilderness* under the guise of "wildlife conservation" and for providing
hunting, fishing, and recreational shooting experiences. This completely
undermines the fundamental tenet of the Wilderness Act, that Wilderness is
a place “untrammeled by man.”

*The Act would also allow the construction of "temporary" roads in
protected Wilderness areas to facilitate such uses and would allow the
construction of dams, buildings, or other structures within Wildernesses.*

Taken in combination, the provisions in the SHARE Act would completely
undermine the protections that wilderness designation should provide, and
dramatically weaken wilderness conservation for the entire 110 million-acre
National Wilderness Preservation System.

The SHARE Act would also exempt road, dam, and building projects within
protected Wilderness areas from the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA) – eliminating critical environmental analysis of potential impacts
and alternatives, and public comment and involvement.

Sadly, *the SHARE Act would eviscerate the letter, spirit, and fundamental
ideals expressed in the Wilderness Act*. While the Wilderness Act prohibits
the use of motorized vehicles or equipment and the building of roads and
other structures, the SHARE Act essentially throws Wilderness areas wide
open to motorized use by agency managers and a nearly unlimited variety of
wilderness-damaging manipulations and developments.

Make no mistake – *Wilderness as we know it will cease to exist if the
SHARE Act becomes law!*

*The anti-wilderness provisions in the SHARE Act must not be enacted into
law!*

Wilderness Watch and supporters like you have often been the last line of
defense standing between America's National Wilderness Preservation System
and those who would harm it.

Together, with your help, we’ll continue fighting anti-wilderness and
wildlife-destroying proposals in Congress, in order to defend
the Wilderness and public lands we all love.

Please TAKE ACTION to protect and defend the Wilderness Act and America's
wildest public lands:
https://wildernesswatch.salsalabs.org/shareact2017/index.html
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