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A House Natural Resources Committee hearing designed to draw attention to the "Evolving West" devolved yesterday into partisan bickering as Western Republicans attacked federal government policy and environmental advocates they say limit economic opportunity and development.
Chairman Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) called the hearing to give members a sense of the opportunities and challenges facing Western communities, featuring witnesses who would discuss, among other things, the diversification of economies to limit exposure to traditional boom-and-bust cycles related to dependence on natural gas or timber from federal lands.
But Republicans said the concept of the "Evolving West" is inaccurate. "It appears the premise for this hearing is as the West becomes more urbanized, our domestic natural resource industries are less important and can be replaced by tourism and high-tech industries," said Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah), ranking member of the National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Subcommittee.
"I believe this premise is somewhere between a gross over-simplification and just plain dead wrong analysis," Bishop added.
Former Parks Subcommittee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) said local citizens want more say in federal decisions that affect their communities. "They strongly feel they can be better stewards of the land than those who read the New York Times or work in environmental law offices in Washington, D.C.," Nunes said.
In a letter to Rahall, Idaho Gov. Butch Otter (R) also blamed the feds. "Most of the challenges facing such resource industries as agriculture, timber and mining in Idaho and throughout the West are the result of federal government policies that unreasonably restrict access, over-regulate activity and discourage substantial growth," Otter wrote.
"Tourism, technology and even service are important and growing segments of our economy," Otter added. "However, they are no panacea for a region inhabited by people who have a special connection with the land, who understand their responsibility to it, and who still value self-reliance and individualism."
But former Rep. Pat Williams (D-Mont.), now a senior fellow at the University of Montana's O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West, said the Republicans are fighting a losing battle. "They talk about a West they've been talking about 20 years ago," Williams said. "The West is no longer what it was. Nor are we who live there what we once were.
"The West with its old industries cannot return to the heyday of yesteryear, even if we wanted to. The transition was, and its effects continue to be, wrenching," Williams said. "Yes, some subdivisions have replaced some sawmills. Our economy is healthier because of this economic diversity."
Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D) promoted his economic growth policy, stressing the importance of environmental protection of lands and rivers, while still allowing for coal mining and more traditional economic land uses. "People are going to choose communities with clean resources," he said.
Schweitzer renewed his call for money for improved carbon sequestration research and a national cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gas emissions to accompany the ongoing use of coal from his state. "Coal will not be the energy source of the future until we get carbon sequestration correct," he said.
Despite the partisan rancor, Rahall told E&E Daily he was pleased with the outcome, especially the message from Schweitzer. "I think it was a positive message," Rahall said. "It shows we can have economic development while having conservation of our natural resources."
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