On the week of its centennial anniversary (August 25) the National Park System, along with the state of Maine and every American, received an 87,500-acre gift of beautiful Northwoods forest that President Obama just proclaimed as Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. The land was generously donated to the American people by Burt’s Bees co-founder Roxanne Quimby and her family foundation, Elliotsville Plantation, Inc. A guarantee to safeguard the land in perpetuity was a condition of the gift, and President Obama relied on his authority under the Antiquities Act–a law established by Theodore Roosevelt–to secure the deal. The gift also includes a $20 million endowment to support planning, infrastructure and maintenance of new monument. This designation is particularly fitting to coincide with the National Park System Centennial. It has a lot in common with another Maine national monument designation that occurred just a month before the National Park Service was established. President Woodrow Wilson, responding to a similar private land donation and local initiative, created Sieur de Monts National Monument, which we all now know and love as Acadia National Park. “Establishing the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument allows the region and its economy to benefit from a remarkable land gift and monetary endowment, and on this 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, it shows the same vision and generosity that made Acadia National Park possible more than a century ago,” said CRS President David Jenkins. The Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument is next to Maine’s spectacular 209,644-acre Baxter State Park, home of Maine’s highest peak, Mt. Katahdin (5,267 feet), and the Appalachian Trail’s northern terminus....
Several years ago, 2012 to be exact, when new efficiency standards for light bulbs first kicked in, there was a hue and cry from talk radio hosts. They lamented the death of the “Edison light bulb” and told listeners that the government was forcing everyone to switch to inferior, “mercury-laced,” compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs). Some even partnered with retailers to frantically urge their audience to stockpile the old inefficient bulbs. It wasn’t long before some lawmakers jumped on the bandwagon and introduced legislation to block the standards, which were part of a 2007 bi-partisan energy bill signed into law by President George W. Bush. Congressman Michael Burgess (R-TX) introduced various measures trying to block the standards or prohibit enforcement, and libertarian Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), citing an Ayn Rand novel, ranted about how consumer choice was being “crushed beneath the boot heel of the collective.” All of this angst was based entirely on talk-radio fiction. The truth was quite different. U.S. light bulb manufacturers, who were behind the push for nationwide efficiency standards, had already retooled their factories to produce improved incandescent bulbs that would meet the new standards, generating light with less waste heat. In fact, those new bulbs—which produced the exact same kind of light as the old versions—were already on store shelves more than six months before the standards went into effect. The lighting manufacturers also knew that CFLs were rapidly being squeezed out of the market. On price, the new improved incandescent bulbs were cheaper, and on quality, LED bulbs were longer lasting and far more efficient. Fast forward to today. Now that these light bulb...
On June 15th, CRS president David Jenkins testified before the House Natural Resources and Homeland Security committees at a forum about Countering Extremism on America’s Public Lands. Ranking Members Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) and Bennie Thompson (D-MS) held the forum after their requests for full committee hearings on the topic were rejected by Committee Chairs Rob Bishop (R-UT) and Michael McCaul (R-TX). Jenkins expressed disappointment that this subject has not gotten a full committee hearing. “In light of the Malheur Refuge takeover, increasing threats against land managers, and the rise of militant groups like Oath Keepers, this is clearly an issue that deserves bi-partisan attention.” He told the lawmakers that the Obama Administration was too timid in dealing with the 2014 Bundy Ranch standoff and called Congressman Rob Bishop’s (R-UT) inflammatory rhetoric “inexcusable.” The forum can be viewed on the embedded video included in this post. CRS comments begin at the 30:08 mark. The written comments submitted by CRS are included as well. Statement of David Jenkins, President of Conservatives for Responsible Stewardship Before the United States House of Representatives Committees on Natural Resources and Homeland Security Minority Forum: Countering Extremism on America’s Public Lands June 15, 2016 Ranking Member Grijalva and Ranking Member Thompson, thank you for the opportunity to testify today about militant extremism on our public lands. I am David Jenkins, president of Conservatives for Responsible Stewardship (CRS), a national grassroots organization of conservatives who are dedicated to the original conservative philosophy that compels us to be good stewards of our natural heritage. Let me begin by expressing disappointment that we are not discussing this problem at a full...
Conservatives for Responsible Stewardship (CRS) is running print ads in the Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret News urging Utah Congressman Rob Bishop, who chairs the House Natural Resources Committee, to denounce Bundy-style thuggery and lawlessness on our nation’s public lands, which even after numerous arrests, still threatens public safety and the visitor experience. In the face of an alarming escalation of violence and intimidation by armed anti-public land militants, which culminated earlier this year in the take over of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Chairman Bishop has refused to denounce such extremism. Instead, he too often seems to be egging it on. Not only did he refuse to cosponsor a resolution condemning the refuge takeover, he regularly hurls insults at land managers, and he recently co-sponsored a bill to strip federal agencies of their law enforcement authority. When asked if he would hold hearings about the Malheur incident and other extremist acts, the Chairman doubled down, saying that instead he wants to continue oversight of “what we feel is the abuse of individuals by the federal land management agencies…” The “abuse” Bishop rants about is nothing more than fiction. Wyatt Prescott, Executive Vice President of the Idaho Cattle Association, recently pointed out in Boise Weekly that the claims that ranchers and the livestock industry are at odds with land managers like BLM is the product of “a misunderstanding at best.” Bishop appears intent on inflaming sentiment against public lands and those who manage them to advance his land transfer goals. This would be irresponsible under any circumstance, but in light of recent threats against land managers and various incidents...
The arrest of the key members of the Bundy clan and recent action to bring an end to the armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge were long overdue and CRS applauds the efforts of the FBI and other law enforcement personnel. In June of last year CRS called on the Obama Administration to bring scofflaw rancher Cliven Bundy to justice, along with the militants he rallied to an armed standoff with law enforcement in Nevada back in 2014. Our concern was that failing to promptly do so only further emboldens these radicals to greater extremes and more lawlessness. That concern proved prescient on January 2nd when Ammon and Ryan Bundy, along with a handful of fellow militants, forcibly occupied the Malheur Refuge. In the CRS press statement on the occupation being brought to an end, CRS president David Jenkins said: “We commend the FBI and other law enforcement officers for ending the armed seizure of this beloved refuge and arresting those involved. Blame for this entire episode, including the unfortunate death of Lavoy Finnicum, falls squarely on the militants who, through their lawless and irresponsible actions, endangered lives from day one.” He added: “Despite all of their rhetoric about the Constitution, freedom and God, in truth the occupiers—along with those who support them—are attacking our nation, its laws, its values, its history, and the democratic processes established by our forefathers. The use of armed force and intimidation to get one’s way in a democracy is the worst kind of bullying. It undermines freedom and tramples on the rights of every other American.” CRS also issued a statement...
In June CRS called on the Obama Administration to bring scofflaw rancher Cliven Bundy to justice, along with the militants he rallied to an armed standoff with law enforcement in Nevada back in 2014. Our concern was, and is, that failing to promptly do so only further emboldens these radicals to greater extremes and more lawlessness. The armed takeover and ongoing occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters in southeastern Oregon further validates that concern. It is no accident that two of Cliven Bundy’s sons, Ammon and Ryan, are ring leaders in this latest incident, or that other militants who participated in the 2014 standoff are also reportedly involved. “People need to understand that the Bundy strain of radicalism is anti-American and dangerous,” said CRS president David Jenkins. “The Bundys—and the armed militants who back them up—are attacking our nation, its laws, its values, its history, and the democratic processes established by our forefathers. They are also trampling on the rights of every American. They are the opposite of conservative, and they will continue to bully, threaten, and test the limits of civil society until they are stopped.” The initial excuse for taking over the Refuge headquarters was to prevent convicted arsonists Dwight and Steven Hammond, who set multiple wildfires and promised to “light up the whole country on fire,” from serving their five-year prison sentence. It is worth noting that the 9th Circuit Judges who ruled that the Hammonds had to serve the mandatory minimum are all conservative. The militants now say that they want the United States to relinquish control of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge,...
