Environmental Initiatives

Media Inquiries

If you are a journalist and would like additional information, please visit the Media Contacts page.

Media Contacts

Subscribe to News Feeds

Pew offers news delivered to your desktop via RSS feed. Subscribing is easy. To learn more or get started, follow the link below.

Subscribe to News Feeds

For The Record

When Pew’s work is questioned or criticized we respond through letters to the editor or op-eds.

Read Pew's Responses

House Votes to Put Public Lands at Risk

Other Resource

Contacts:
Elyssa Rosen, 775.224.7497
Susan Whitmore, 202.540.6430 

legend-border-350-RC.jpg

Download legend (PDF)

Sweeping measure would suspend environmental laws

On June 19, 2012, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to give operational control of all of America’s public lands to one agency: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). H.R. 2578 includes the National Security and Federal Land Protection Act as well as 13 other bills, and would suspend outright 16 environmental laws, including the Endangered Species Act, within 100 miles of U.S. borders with Mexico and Canada.

What’s more, the CBP would have immediate access to develop roads and infrastructure on the more than 600 million acres of national parks, monuments, Indian reservations, wilderness, wildlife refuges, and other lands managed by U.S. Departments of Interior (DOI) and Agriculture (USDA), anywhere in the country. From Redwood National Park to the Statue of Liberty, this measure would threaten America’s most treasured lands and waters.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security does not support this legislation, and a recent General Accounting Office report concluded that current federal laws do not impede border protection. The National Security and Federal Land Protection Act was sponsored by House National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands Subcommittee Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah).

Continental United States

Download map (PDF)

Contintental U.S. - H.R. 1505

Alaska

Download map (PDF)

Alaska - H.R. 1505

 

Related News and Resources

  • Pew Opposes Threats to Public Lands at the Border

    • Other Resource
    • Jun 14, 2013
    The Pew Charitable Trusts is working to eliminate or at a minimum limit provisions in the pending immigration reform bill that would adversely impact public health and safety, the environment, and public lands along our nation’s borders. Today, Mike Matz, Director, U.S. Public Lands, sent a letter (link) to each Senate office outlining Pew’s concerns.

    …More

  • Your Wilderness -- June 2013

    • Compilation
    • Jun 10, 2013
    In this monthly issue of Your Wilderness includes the latest wilderness news, including common ground in Idaho, an active month in Congress, and a profile of Montana's Snowcrest Range. 

    …More

  • Talking it Over, Finding Agreement

    • Other Resource
    • Jun 10, 2013
    It’s remarkable what can happen when people talk to each other. In a part of the Idaho panhandle, a great plan to provide jobs and leave a natural legacy for future generations has been approved because people sat at a table, spent time with each other, listened, and learned.

    …More

  • Crisscrossing Montana's Snowcrest Range

    • Other Resource
    • Jun 10, 2013
    Southeast of Dillon, MT, lies the Snowcrest Range, one of the wildest mountain areas in the state, which makes it one of the wildest in the West.

    …More

  • The Antiquities Act

    • Other Resource
    • Jun 10, 2013
    On the 107th anniversary of the signing of the Antiquities Act this month, Americans can count over 100 cultural sites, historic places, and wild landscapes as permanently protected, thanks to this important conservation measure.

    …More

  • Continued Focus on Public Lands and Wilderness in May - For Good, and Ill

    • Other Resource
    • Jun 10, 2013
    May was an active month in Congress for public lands issues. Both the House and Senate held several hearings and markups on land protection legislation. Unfortunately, committees also considered measures to weaken protections for our public lands.

    …More

  • Bills Introduced to Protect Nevada's Piece of the Grand Canyon

    • Compilation
    • Jun 06, 2013
    Nevada Senator Harry Reid and Congressman Steven Horsford introduced legislation today to protect an area between the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument in Arizona and Lake Mead National Recreation Area, just south of Mesquite, Nevada.

    …More

  • Oregonians Say They Want More Land and Water Protections

    • Other Resource
    • May 21, 2013
    Oregonians understand the importance of and want to protect the clean drinking water, ancient forests, wilderness, and wild salmon of the O&C lands. Voters believe that protecting old growth forests, bodies of water, and the wildlife that live there is the top priority.

    …More

X
Sign In

Member Sign In

Forgot Password?
Submit Not a Member? Join!
X

Forgot Password?

Send Password Not a Member? Join!
X

Change Password

Change Password
X
(All Fields are required)
Send Message
Share this on: