We will defend our wildlands from threats of a Trump administration

Donald Trump’s victory ushers in a new era of serious threats to American conservation. When the president-elect has previously weighed in on the issues that matter to us, his words have often run contrary to core American values about protecting our land and water. Pledges to deregulate and drill our way to prosperity without regard for the science and consequences of climate change ought to alarm every person who cares about our country (and planet).

We will work to hold President-elect Trump accountable and stand ready to repel any policies that would jeopardize bedrock conservation laws.

On the other hand, Trump and his campaign surrogates have been consistent on the record in supporting public lands and believing they need to stay protected for all Americans. These places are the country’s common ground, representing an opportunity to come together in the name of a cherished national ideal regardless of political party. We will work to hold President-elect Trump accountable, to stay true to these positive statements, and stand ready to repel any policies that would jeopardize bedrock conservation laws.

We will share more in the coming weeks about our plans for the Trump administration and the 115th Congress. In the meantime, we must work to make sure the Obama administration continues its conservation work in the precious days remaining between now and January 20th.

Stay tuned for more on our strategy, and take a look at what will be at stake in a Trump presidency.

Public land faces major uncertainty: Threats we face under Trump:

1. Despite public statements, Trump has expressed support for the “public land takeover” movement behind closed doors.

While he has gone on the record as wanting to keep public lands in public hands, behind closed doors, President-elect Trump has reportedly expressed support for the radical campaign to privatize public lands. Meanwhile, the 2016 GOP platform calls on Congress to immediately pass legislation that creates a mechanism to force some federal public lands into state control.

2. Trump’s presidency threatens vital conservation programs.

Trump’s campaign has criticized federal land agencies, and he has said he intends to broadly slash federal government programs. This does not bode well for the miniscule slice of the budget currently devoted to conservation — barely 1 percent overall.

Statements to hold Trump to:

1. Trump has gone on the record for keeping our public lands public.

While Donald Trump has warmed up to the “land takeover” movement behind closed doors, he has publicly said he doesn’t like the idea of allowing states to seize national public lands (similarly, Donald Trump Jr., a campaign surrogate, supports “making sure [public lands are] not going into private hands”).

2. Trump claims to support conservation.

Trump has said “We have to be great stewards of this land” and implied that he would improve management for the good of sportsmen. Donald Trump Jr., who may exert great influence on his father’s policies, said he supports the Land and Water Conservation Fund, a popular program that takes royalties from offshore oil and gas leasing and gives those funds to the government to purchase land for parks and open spaces.

What we will do to protect our public lands:

• The Wilderness Society will hold Trump to his support of public lands. Donald Trump has said some positive things about keeping public lands in public hands, and we will hold him to them. The “public land takeover” movement is poised to gain momentum in Congress, and it is our job to make sure the president-elect won’t be a part of it — that when he said “we have to be great stewards of this land,” it actually meant something.
• We will fight to make sure conservation is funded. Conservation programs are enormously popular and contribute substantially to the economy, generating up to $10 for every $1 invested and creating high-quality jobs. Despite this, these programs are shortchanged in the federal budget every year. We will fight for conservation funding, as well as working to keep the most toxic “riders” out of the budget.
• We will defend the Antiquities Act and future national monuments. Numerous laws have been proposed in this Congress that would limit the future presidents’ ability to protect important cultural and natural sites as national monuments. We have consistently worked to oppose such measures, and will continue to do so throughout the Trump presidency.

Threats we face under Trump: Reckless energy policy threatens climate

1) Trump has repeatedly cast doubt on climate change.

Ignoring the scientific consensus, President-elect Trump has repeatedly said he does not “believe” in climate change, and even that it is a hoax “created by and for the Chinese.”

2) Trump has said he may “cut” the EPA.

President-elect Trump has said he may “cut” the Environmental Protection Agency, which is tasked with enforcing laws to reduce pollution, because “what they do is a disgrace.”

3) Trump promotes reckless fossil fuel development on public lands.

Trump has stated his intent to reject moratoriums on new coal leases or other energy production on public lands, implied he might drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and said he wants to increase offshore drilling.

4) Trump might appoint an oil executive to head Interior.

In addition to saying he will “[open] federal lands for oil and gas production,” Trump has floated the idea of appointing an oil executive as Secretary of the Interior.

5) Trump rejects renewable energy.

President-elect Trump has called renewable energy “just an expensive way of making the tree-huggers feel good about themselves,” instead extolling the virtues of energy sources like oil, gas and coal.

Statements to hold Trump to:

1) Trump claims to value land protection.

Trump has said “I am for energy exploration, as long as we don’t do anything to damage the land.”

What we will do to protect Our Wild:

• We will demand a response to climate change. Science has spoken: human-caused climate change is real, and a huge threat to the entire planet. We will fight to ensure federal agencies fully address greenhouse gas emissions from energy projects on public lands, amid comprehensive work to address the climate crisis.
• We will move to reduce fossil fuel emissions and impacts on public lands. Among other plans, we will advocate for policies that reduce methane leaks from public lands, which make up a sizeable “blind spot” in U.S. emissions calculations; stop oil and gas leasing on lands that are simply “Too Wild to Drill”; and advance reform for the federal coal leasing program to protect the land and ensure American taxpayers are not shortchanged.
• We will push for responsible renewable energy development. The U.S. cannot afford to have its national energy plan stuck in reverse. We will aggressively push for the development of renewable energy sources in order to curb greenhouse gas emissions, while also ensuring that the development doesn’t happen in the most sensitive wildlands.

How you can help

On the campaign trail, Donald Trump sometimes noted the importance of environmental protection, and we will remind him of those statements and hold him to them. But more frequently, the president-elect has advocated a host of policies that would worsen climate change, depress renewable energy and potentially empower anti-conservationists in Washington DC.

We are proud of our long record of bipartisan collaboration, and we will spend the next four years fighting to safeguard Our Wild and repel attacks at the local and national level — no matter who controls Congress or the White House.

During the Trump presidency, it seems clear we may be in for an unprecedented challenge. Please JOIN US and invest in our conservation war-chest to protect this nation’s great natural heritage.