Utah Congressman Chris Stewart (R-UT-2) has introduced a sham bill that he says will protect habitat for mule deer and sage grouse, but it’s really just another trick to try to eliminate environmental review of projects on federal public lands.
The “Sage-Grouse and Mule Deer Habitat Conservation and Restoration Act” would establish “a categorical exclusion for covered vegetative management activities carried out to establish or improve habitat for greater sage-grouse and mule deer.” Which means that any project to remove juniper trees and piñon pine would be automatically labeled “habitat protection” even if the project involved chaining, burning, pesticides, cattle grazing, removal of wild horses or other methods that result in severe environmental impacts.
The bill is endorsed by “The Mule Deer Foundation,” a group affiliated with Don Peay and his network of organizations that pretend to support hunters while actually pushing an agenda of wildlife privatization, predator extermination, and trophy hunting.