Native Plant Conservation Campaign News: Government shutdown disrupted public lands and the scientists and agencies that protect them while poll shows strong support for their conservation.
February 25, 2019
Agencies and scientists are documenting the damage the partial government shutdown caused to public lands, imperiled species and their habitats 
while a new poll confirms strong support for federal lands.
while a new poll confirms strong support for federal lands.In January, Colorado College released the ninth annual Conservation in the West poll. As in previous years, the poll found strong support for public lands in eight western states. For example, for 63 percent of respondents, the ability to live near, recreate on, and enjoy public lands like national forests, parks, or trails was a factor in where they live. Eighty-seven percent believed that public lands improve local economies.
The poll also found strong opposition to the expansion of oil, gas and mineral extraction on public lands by the Trump administration.
Meanwhile the 35 day partial government shutdown, which ended (for the time being) in January, adversely impacted not only public lands conservation and management, but federal science programs, including those that protect imperiled plants. The Ecological Society of America’s Policy News provided an analysis of some of the effects of the shutdown. Excerpts follow:
Impacts on public lands
The administration….chose to keep many national parks and other federal lands open to the public during the shutdown. "We've got the worst of all worlds right now," said former Interior Secretary Sally Jewell in comments to The New York Times. "You've got a dangerous situation, and a situation where our nation's treasures are put at risk. There is now a very small number of law enforcement who can patrol and stop poaching, looting and vandalism, as well as people not realizing the risk and potentially hurting themselves." Joshua Tree National Park reported illegal off-road driving, damaging natural areas, and overflowing trashcans and toilets.
But oil and gas permitting continued
Interior updated its contingency plans in early January, expanding its definitions of essential personnel, allowing the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to continue work on oil and gas leasing and permitting on federal lands and off-shore areas.
For science, the shutdown quickly took a toll, even in its first days, on science as across the country laboratories closed, field scientists were recalled, conferences were unattended and time-sensitive grant programs disrupted.
Photo: Arapaho National Forest © Bayard Ewing, Colorado Native Plant Society
