Honestly, I'm more than happy to get hate mail most days. It means you're reading RideApart, and a hate click is still a click. And daddy loves those clicks.
But the fact that I got comments and emails about our coverage of SEMA's continued support of the current Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, and those folks stating that "No, in fact, he's good for public land access! We now have a seat at the table!" while also bemoaning REI members' hatred toward off-roaders, well, I really wanted to reply to everyone "Are you kidding me?!" I'd then point to literally everything that man, and this administration, have done toward selling every ounce of public land off.
We may have a seat at the table, but the table's on fire, and they're pouring gasoline onto it.
Luckily, I don't have to as these politicians aren't showing any signs of stopping, as it's come to light that the Trump Administration, along with Secretary Burgum, are planning on rescinding the Public Lands Rule. The same Public Lands Rule that gives equal weight to recreation—read off-roading, hiking, camping, hunting, fishing, etc—on public lands as energy, mineral, and housing development for the betterment of this country.
They're not even hiding it, and yet, we're still fighting amongst ourselves. This has to stop.
According to our friends at Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, which fights for public land access for everyone, "Acting on earlier direction from Department of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to review the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) Conservation and Landscape Health Rule, known as the Public Lands Rule, the Trump administration announced their intent to rescind the Rule. The Public Lands Rule affirms that conserving public land is a legitimate and important use – on equal footing with energy development, timber harvest, grazing, and recreation – under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act; it also encourages innovative partnerships to restore and protect the health of these landscapes for future generations."
You'll notice I emphasized the part where it specifically calls out that it was Burgum's direction for our friends in the comments and my inbox. It's not an "I told you so," but if it quacks like a duck...
Now, rescinding this rule, along with all the other steps this administration and Burgum have taken toward privatizing public lands, would have devastating effects on those who recreate on said lands. Mass tracts of public land would be up for sale, which include hunting grounds, fisheries, camping and hiking locales, and off-roading. Everything would be on the table, as the folks in charge positively hate the idea of public lands being a public resource. They've put it into a playbook that literally anyone can read. And they've been following that playbook to a T, despite the rhetoric from commenters sticking their heads into the dirt.
I don't know how to make it clearer what's at stake, but as we fight amongst ourselves, talking trash about hikers or off-roaders or hunters in comments, forums, emails, or propping up and giving a pass to organizations like SEMA which should be fighting for the public, these folks are using that discord to do away with everything. They're on the precipice of selling off everything to the highest bidder and we're still mostly on the sidelines. And this has to stop.
A new poll from the Trust for Public Lands group shows that nearly all Americans have positive views on public lands. The non-profit polled 4,000 folks and showed that, while the vast majority are divided on other issues, "74% oppose the closure of national public lands, and 71% oppose selling public lands to the highest bidder." You literally can't find another cause in American politics with that sort of unification.
Yet, the groups that represent this love aren't coming together, but instead fighting each other because "You don't love the land like I do!" Enough is enough.
We can either accept one another or lose the land. We can either accept that hikers want to hike and hunters want to hunt and off-roaders want to get stuck in mud 15 miles from the trailhead or we can kiss all of it goodbye. Hikers aren't the enemy. Off-roaders aren't the enemy. Hunters aren't the enemy. The folks in Washington, the companies and organizations refusing to hold these politicians accountable, those folks, they are the enemy. So the question becomes: Do you want public lands, or do you want to bemoan me and others attempting to hold a massive organization like SEMA or the Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, accountable?
"The Public Lands Rule reflects years of work, including extensive input from stakeholders, to ensure the long-term health of the landscapes we rely on for healthy fish and wildlife habitat," says BHA's Kaden McArthur, adding, "To abandon the Rule in its entirety – and the overwhelming public support behind it – is a direct affront to those who value America’s wild places, and the democratic process used to steward them for the benefit of all of us as public land owners."
We have to stop fighting each other already.
Call your representatives. Call organizations like SEMA and the Snowmobile Manufacturers Council. Call everyone who still supports Burgum and voice your belief that public lands should remain public. Because if you don't, you aren't gonna have them.
