Citizens charge unfairness in appointments to BLM councils

Citizens charge unfairness in appointments to BLM councils

December 15, 2001

By Janelle Holden
Journal Staff Writer

Backed by Colorado environmental groups, a number of citizens alleged in Grand Junction on Thursday that Interior Secretary Gale Norton has stacked the state’s Resource Advisory Councils with political appointees.

This fall, 13 new members were appointed by Norton to the state’s three councils, which serve as citizen advisory boards to the BLM.

Gov. Bill Owens recommended 12 out of the 13 newly appointed members, nine of whom did not submit a required letter of support from the interest group he or she wanted to represent.

The 15-member advisory councils are made up of three groups of five members each who represent defined categories of public-lands users.

Category 1 includes commercial public-lands interests such as grazing, mining, and motorized recreation. Category 2 includes anyone who does not have a direct financial interest in public land, such as environmentalists or dispersed recreationists. Category 3 is the public at large, elected officials, tribal officials, and state agency representatives.

According to the Federal Land Management Policy Act, which sets the guidelines for the councils, "Each advisory committee shall be structured to provide fair membership balance, both geographic and interest-specific, in terms of the functions to be performed and points of views to be represented, as prescribed by its charter."

Between the Northwest and Southwest councils, 20 different interest groups nominated 54 people to the council this year, but of nine members appointed, only three had letters of support, and all but one were recommended by Owens.

The governor’s letter to Norton does not state why the individuals are qualified, but only names them and states, "It is my belief that these citizens will provide valuable input to the process of managing the 3.4 million acres of BLM public lands in Colorado."

FLPMA directs the secretary to consider nominees presented by the governor, but all applicants must follow the same uniform standards set forth by law.

And the governor’s letters only serve as supporting documents, the environmental groups argue, and not as constituent letters of support.

"The whole power of the RAC is that you get qualified people who understand the land in the geographic area and understand the issues and who are considered to be credible representatives by the interests that they are representing, and without that, it’s a sham," said Vera Smith, director of the Colorado Mountain Club.

Smith said her club is the largest dispersed-recreation interest group in the state, but she had never heard of Steve Parker, who took a seat on the Southwest RAC to represent dispersed recreation.

Parker said he had asked groups for letters of support, but apparently they had not sent them. He said he is a member of the Colorado Mountain Club, has climbed 10 of Colorado’s mountain peaks over 14,000 feet, was active in Trails 2000, and rides both mountain and road bikes.

"This isn’t one of those deals where I need another project and I need to line up and vote some kind of party line," said Parker. "I’m an outdoors guy and I moved to Colorado 27 years ago."

Parker said he has had contact with the governor’s office, on and off, for three years, about various subjects and had conversations with Rep. Mark Larson (R-Cortez) before deciding to apply for the RAC.

Smith and others complained to the Northwest RAC on Thursday, and the Southwest RAC last Thursday. She and more than a dozen others asked the councils to draft letters to Norton. The letters would ask Norton to review the process and reappoint the most-qualified people who had letters of support and fit the council requirements.

The Southwest RAC decided not to send a letter, but the Northwest RAC decided to draft a letter to the BLM, which will be forwarded to Norton.

"I think the letter is just going to raise the issue that this has caused some concerns from members of the public with the RAC’s credibility, that they would like to have the process reviewed, and if necessary take actions to remedy it and to restore the credibility of the RAC council," said Mark Stiles, BLM’s Western Slope center manager.

Stiles said he and his supervisor, state BLM director Ann Morgan, submitted a list of recommendations to Norton, but he would not say whether they matched up with the governor’s recommendations.

"The RAC is supposed to be a forum where citizens with varying views can work together to develop proper management for our public lands," said Dennis Huffman, who was nominated to the Northwest RAC by the Colorado River Guides Association and Wild Horse and Burro Association, but was not appointed.

"What Governor Owens and Secretary Norton have done by stacking the RACs is politicize a positive, volunteer advisory committee to benefit their own narrow political agenda."

The Colorado Environmental Club vows that it will not let the issue die.

"We’re definitely looking into legal options," said Smith.

Norton and Owens did not return calls on Friday.