As catastrophic wildfires continue to ravage the parched West, President Joe Biden – showing the same deft hand that enabled him to turn Afghanistan along with billions of dollars of sophisticated U.S. military equipment and an undetermined number of American citizens over to the Taliban – chose precisely this moment to declare September “National Wilderness Month.”
Adding fuel to the fire he had just set, Biden pledged to expand use of the Wilderness Act of 1964. What does the Wilderness Act have to do with rapidly spreading wildfires? You might ask. The answer: A lot.
The Wilderness Act severely limits the use of motorized vehicles and mechanical equipment on the millions of acres of federal land designated as wilderness areas. Because these “protected” areas are largely left alone, meaning that dead and diseased trees along with overgrown brush are not removed, wilderness areas are allowed to become tinder boxes. Once a fire starts from, say, a bolt of lightning, what would normally be a small blaze that burns itself out becomes a conflagration that destroys everything in its path – vegetation, wildlife, humans.
“Incredibly Out of Touch”
“President Biden’s proclamation calling for increased utilization of the Wilderness Act of 1964 is incredibly out of touch at a moment when catastrophic wildfires are threatening populations across the West, and 4.8 million acres have already burned this year,” said National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) Executive Director of Natural Resources and Public Lands Council Executive Director Kaitlynn Glover. (Western Livestock Journal, Sept. 7)
Ethan Lane, NCBA vice president of government affairs added: “The White House cannot acquire, designate, or prohibit their way into nationwide conservation. If they pursue this approach, they will not be able to achieve their goal of truly preserving 30 percent of lands and waters, and they will alienate agricultural producers who make up the bulk of Americans actually performing conservation work every day.”
The “goal of truly preserving 30 percent of lands and waters” is a reference to Biden’s “30 X 30” plan. Tucked into the president’s sweeping Jan. 27 climate change executive order, the 30 X 30 plan seeks to preserve “at least” 30 percent of the nation’s land and waters by 2030. In addition to having the federal government acquire even more land, it would require an ever-increasing amount of federal land to be off limits to any commercial use. By designating more land as wilderness, the White House can drive the ball farther down field toward its real goal.
The Real Agenda
This is what Biden’s embrace of the Wilderness Act is all about. It is part of a larger scheme to decarbonize the entire U.S. energy sector while bringing more of the nation’s natural resources under the control Washington bureaucrats and their well-heeled green allies. All this is being done in the name of combating climate change and protecting the environment. In truth, it will benefit purveyors of renewable energy and line the pockets of Wall Street investors who are pumping billions into wind and solar power, electric vehicles, and batteries — all of which are unreliable, unaffordable, environmentally harmful, and pose a serious threat to the nation’s already shaky electric grid.
Invoking the Wilderness Act of 1964 is a means to an end. And that end can already be seen in California, where the once-glistening Golden State has descended into never-ending blackouts and brownouts, overseen by a smug oligarchy that, truth be told, is more than happy to see ordinary people flee the state in droves.