{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://fulcher.house.gov/2023/05/18/id-b0764276-519e-4488-b310-10e09d4584f7/", "Western Caucus Members Introduce Bill to Protect Multiple-Use on Federal Lands", "2023-05-18", "2023", "2023-05", "Republican", "House", "ID", "Russ Fulcher", "F000469", "fulcher.house.gov", "fulcher", "https://fulcher.house.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Contact:\n\nDaniel Tellez\n\n202-225-6611\n\ndaniel.tellez@mail.house.gov\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 Congressman John Curtis (R-UT), alongside Congressional Western Caucus Chairman Dan Newhouse (R-WA) and Congressman Russ Fulcher (R-ID), introduced legislation to halt the proposed Bureau of Land Management (BLM) public lands rule that undermines the agency\u2019s approach to federal land management by upending decades of multiple-use administration. With more than 90% of BLM\u2019s 245 million acres located in the West, the rule would have an outsized effect on Western states and their residents.\n\n\u201cThe BLM\u2019s proposed rule would undermine the livelihoods of Utah\u2019s farmers, ranchers, recreation businesses, and more,\u201d said Congressman Curtis. \u201cIn a state that has so much natural beauty to share, this rule attempts to lock up those precious lands that should be open and accessible to the public.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn the West, we know locking up lands with preservationist designations does not automatically guarantee healthy landscapes. In fact, the opposite is often the case,\u201d said Chairman Newhouse. \u201cFarmers and ranchers are the best stewards of the land, not bureaucrats in Washington who seek to hamper our land managers\u2019 ability to conserve the land they rely on for their livelihoods. The BLM has time and again shown their aim is to drastically reduce, or even eliminate, grazing on public lands, and this proposed rule is the latest iteration of this effort. I am proud to introduce legislation to rescind it.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Bureau of Land Management\u2019s proposed rule ignores Congressional input as well as those of sportsmen and Tribes, whose access to certain federal lands could be restricted if the rule goes into effect,\u201d Congressman Fulcher added. \u201cBLM, under the Interior Department, should be prioritizing proper management of high-risk fire areas and leasing on federal lands so we can secure American energy independence. This rule only undermines these goals.\u201d\n\nBackground:\n\nBLM\u2019s proposed rule subverts the Congressional \u201cmultiple-use\u201d mandate \u2013 established by the Federal Land Policy and Management Act \u2013 that federal land and its resources must be utilized for various purposes to \u201cbest meet the needs of the people.\u201d By enacting a restrictive framework for \u2018conservation leases,\u2019 the rule threatens access to federal lands for other critical purposes such as grazing, mining, outdoor recreation, and energy development projects while giving conservation lease holders the power to prevent access to public lands.\n\nRead the full bill text here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T23:55:44Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://fulcher.house.gov/2023/05/18/id-b0764276-519e-4488-b310-10e09d4584f7/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6641411930322647, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}