Duvall
The following may be attributed to Zippy Duvall, President, American Farm Bureau Federation:
“Land management decisions governing federal lands are best left to state and local officials and other stakeholders. We are pleased that Congress passed and President Trump signed a law to overturn the flawed ‘Planning 2.0’ rule issued by the Bureau of Land Management. The new law places management decisions back in local hands, where they belong.
“The rule was a clear overreach by the BLM. It would have jeopardized the lawful requirement for multiple uses of federal land and dismantled the ideal of cooperative federalism. By reducing the opportunity for public comment, minimizing federal requirements to coordinate with state and local governments and imposing new mitigation requirements, the rule would have caused significant problems in federal land use planning processes.
“Everybody who lives in rural America knows how important it is to have a good relationship with neighbors. It was clear to us that the Planning 2.0 rule would have set up a potentially unworkable and adversarial relationship for many who farm, ranch and live near federal lands. Congress and President Trump did the right thing in rolling back this flawed rule and restoring state and local control.”