Washington’s land preservation obsession

Washington's land preservation obsession

Just before Christmas with Congress in recess and the public on holiday, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar issued Secretarial Order 3310 that puts the creation of de facto wilderness areas back in the Bureau of Land Management's preservation tool kit.

Environmentalists love it; landowners and resource providers not so much.

What is particularly egregious about Salazar's order is that it enables the BLM to create wilderness-like areas without the consent of Congress. In the long run it will adversely impact resource development, recreation, travel and grazi...