Number: 2016-09
WHEREAS, federal and state lands are held in the public trust for the enjoyment and use of the general public; and
WHEREAS, armed militants’ criminal seizure of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in January 2016 was the latest in a series of violent or potentially violent disputes over public land ownership and management authorities; and
WHEREAS, the occupiers threatened government workers and private citizens; misused and destroyed public property; desecrated Native American sites and artifacts; deprived the public of its rightful use of federal lands; and obstructed critical refuge management operations; and
WHEREAS, the conspirators defied the rule of law while citing misinterpretations of the United States’ and Western states’ constitutions as justification; and
WHEREAS, while alleging that federal properties are mismanaged, some elected officials create self-fulfilling rationales for giving them away by starving management agencies of funding, as federal resource management spending has declined from approximately 2.5 percent of federal budget authority in 1977 to less than 1 percent today; and
WHEREAS, aligning fees for consumption of National resource commodities more closely with those of state and private entities could bolster funding for resource management; and
WHEREAS, land transfer proponents unjustifiably single out legitimate challenges in land management as additional rationale for massive land transfers to private or state control; and
WHEREAS, acts of support and incendiary rhetoric by elected officials purport to legitimize militants’ criminal actions, further inflaming anti-government extremists; and
WHEREAS, taxpayers are paying the more than $6 million the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge seizure cost the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, plus millions more in costs to other agencies; and
WHEREAS, confrontations at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and at Bunkerville, Nevada in 2014 threaten to inspire similarly explosive disputes that would jeopardize lives, hamper resource management, endanger public properties, impose additional significant unnecessary expenses for agencies, and prevent lawful use of those properties.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation, at its Annual Meeting assembled June 16-18, 2016 in Estes Park, Colorado, hereby condemns such criminal acts in pursuit of public lands disposal or as challenges to federal laws, and supports law enforcement agencies in the apprehension and vigorous prosecution of persons who commit such acts; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that perpetrators of such criminal acts be held liable for costs those acts impose on taxpayers; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that government officials who encourage or further such criminal acts be held to account through public censure, and by criminal prosecution if applicable; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation supports full funding of land and resource management agencies so they can perform all of their statutory responsibilities; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation supports collecting fair value for consumptive use of our Nation’s resources, and directing the revenues toward enhanced land and resource management; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that federal, state and local government officials and private stakeholders be encouraged to emulate successful examples of collaborative public lands management as an effective way to prevent and resolve conflict.