Last night, the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) sent the letter below to the House to oppose H.R. 6285, H.R. 3397, H.R. 3195, H.R. 2925, H.R. 764, and H.R. 615. LCV will strongly consider including votes on HR 7176 in the 2024 National Environmental Scorecard.

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April 29, 2024

U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Re: Oppose H.R. 6285, H.R. 3397, H.R. 3195, H.R. 2925, H.R. 764, and H.R. 615

Dear Representatives: 

The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) believes that everyone has a right to clean air, clean water, public lands, and a safe climate protected by a just and equitable democracy. Each year, LCV publishes the National Environmental Scorecard, which details the voting records of members of Congress on environmental legislation. The Scorecard is distributed to LCV members, concerned voters nationwide, and the media.

LCV urges you to vote NO on a suite of bills and any related amendments which would undermine protections for public lands and wildlife by advancing the interests of polluters. If enacted, these extreme bills would roll back the progress the Biden-Harris administration has made to advance protections for our lands, waters, and wildlife at the expense of the climate and our communities. The bills include:

• H.R. 6285,  the so-called Alaska’s Right to Produce Act of 2023, which would threaten millions of acres of wildlands in America’s Arctic by mandating that seven illegal Trump administration oil leases be reissued in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, threatening the calving grounds of the herd of 200,000-plus Porcupine Caribou. Harming the caribou herd also threatens the Gwich’in People who have depended on this herd for millennia. The bill would also eliminate new conservation protections for 13 million acres of Special Areas in the Western Arctic and repeal existing protections from oil and gas development on 125 million acres of the Arctic Ocean.
• H.R. 3397, the WEST Act of 2023, which would require the Bureau of Land Management to withdraw the Conservation and Landscape Health Rule. This critical rule would improve the stewardship of millions of acres of federally owned lands across the U.S. and ensure public lands are managed to better balance conservation. 
• H.R.  3195, the so-called Superior National Forest Restoration Act, which would rescind the 2023 Public Land Order that withdrew mineral rights within the Superior National Forest to protect the watershed that flows into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Voyageurs National Park in northeastern Minnesota. The bill would also automatically reinstate the canceled mineral leases to Antofagasta, place an arbitrary and expedited 18 month timeline on any future permits or leasing, and would block any judicial review of any granted mineral leases. A copper sulfide-ore mine and its waste in this watershed would threaten the Boundary Waters, which is the most visited Wilderness in the country. 
• H.R.  2925, the so-called Mining Regulatory Clarity Act of 2024, which would convey rights to permanently occupy public lands to any mining claimant, including foreign mining companies. Under this bill, anyone –for a nominal fee– could gain permanent rights to occupy public lands and preclude all other uses. This would lead to unintended consequences, including preventing recreational, traditional and cultural uses, and renewable energy development and transmission on public lands under the claim. 
• H.R. 764, the misleadingly named Trust the Science Act, which would direct the Secretary of the Interior to reissue a Trump administration rule delisting the gray wolves in 44 states. The bill bars judicial review of the Secretary’s action delisting the wolf, compromising the integrity of the Endangered Species Act.
• H.R. 615, the so-called Protecting Access for Hunters and Anglers Act, which would prohibit the Departments of Interior and Agriculture from protecting human health, wildlife, and our environment from toxic lead in ammunition and fishing tackle. Lead-based ammo is the single largest source of unregulated lead discharged into our lands and waters. There is no safe level of lead exposure, and in children, even miniscule to contaminated meat can produce lasting neurological deficits in intelligence and behavior. USGS also found that over half of this nation’s bald eagles and golden eagles are likely suffering from lead poisoning as a result of discarded lead ammunition. 

We urge you to oppose these measures and any amendment that would jeopardize the key progress we have made to protect our public lands and wildlife. LCV will strongly consider including votes on these bills in our 2024 National Environmental Scorecard. If you would like more information, please reach out to a member of our government relations team.

Sincerely,
Gene Karpinski
President