Daily Times

WASHINGTON: President-elect Donald Trump aims to open up federal lands to more energy development, tapping into a long-running and contentious debate over how best to manage America’s remaining wilderness.

The US government holds title to about 500 million acres of land across the country, including national parks and forests, wildlife refuges and tribal territories stretching from the Arctic to the Gulf of Mexico. They overlay billions of barrels of oil and vast quantities of natural gas, coal, and uranium.

With Trump poised to take office on Jan. 20, energy companies and their lobbyists are eyeing a new gusher of federal drilling and mining leases after a period of stagnation under the administration of Barack Obama.

Oil output on federal land made up about a fifth of the national total in 2015 – down from more than a third in 2010 – while the number of onshore drilling leases fell about 15 percent, according to federal data. “This opportunity is unique, maybe once in a lifetime,” said Jack Gerard, president of the Washington D.C.-based American Petroleum Institute lobby group, referring to prospects for increased access to federal leases.

The hoped-for land run by energy companies, however, could get bogged down by lawsuits and lobbying from environmental groups and some local residents. “It would only take one serious mistake – one well to go bad – for our town’s water supply to be damaged,” said Josh Ewing, the leader of a southern Utah conservation group.

Energy firms have their allies in the rural areas, too, who would welcome an economic jolt. “We can’t maintain our families here because there are no jobs,” said Bob Turri, a former officer with the US Bureau of Land Management in southern Utah, surrounded by millions of acres of pristine federally managed forest. “That’s the only hope we have left, is what Trump may be able to do for us.” Trump had campaigned on a promise to open up federal lands to increased development. He accused Obama of “denying millions of Americans access to the energy wealth sitting under our feet” by restricting leasing and banning new coal extraction.

In December, Trump nominated US Representative Ryan Zinke of Montana, who backs coal mining on federal lands, to lead the Interior Department. Officials for Zinke and Trump declined to comment.

Trump has vowed to lift the coal moratorium – imposed in 2016 as part of Obama’s broader plan to combat climate change – within 100 days of taking office. Separately, a coalition appointed by Trump’s team to guide his Native American policy is researching proposals to ease energy development on tribal lands – including the controversial idea of transferring them to private ownership.

While efforts to boost industry access to public lands would likely trigger lawsuits and protests, it could win broad support in a Congress now firmly in Republican control after November’s election. Luke Popovich, a spokesman for the National Mining Association, said he expected some of Trump’s planned moves to be easy, including reversing Obama’s coal ban.

“Happily, just as it was created with the stroke of a pen, it can be as easily rescinded,” he said. “That is our hope and expectation.” Other efforts to undo Obama’s legacy could be harder. In his final weeks in office, Obama designated about 1.6 million acres in Utah and Nevada as national monuments, using the 1906 Antiquities Act that lawyers say could be complicated to reverse. The move was a parting gift to Native American groups and conservationists.