GAME OVER, FINALLY, GUN GUYS WIN

Political Irony Reigns as President Obama Signs “MasterBlaster Bill”

I suppose I should let it go, but nobody else does, so why should I?

This is my third column about the now-infamous administrative rule to allow loaded, concealed firearms in national parks and wildlife refuges (links at end of column). The rule evolved into a symbolic and high priority political battle, and both pro-gun and anti-gun groups seized on it as a way to find out who had the power.

And now we know. The gun lobby wins, easily, which is no surprise to me.

GOP Holds Interior Appointments ‘Hostage’ Over Utah Oil and Gas Leases

Yesterday, Senate Republicans started a mini protest against Interior Secretary Ken Salazar by blocking he appointment of David J. Hayes to one of the department’s No. 2 spots.

As the Washington Post reports, “Republicans acknowledged beforehand that the vote was not a rejection of Hayes, who served for two years as deputy interior secretary in the Clinton administration; Republicans instead were making a statement of opposition to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s cancellation this year of leases for oil and gas drilling in Utah.”

But Ray Ring, at High Country News writes on his blog: There’s much more to it than that:

Amid that noise, which is led by Utah Sen. Bob Bennett, the underlying character of today’s Republican Party can be detected. It’s more evidence of the tremendous leverage rightwingers have within the party, and how they exercise it in the Republican primaries, pressuring other Republican politicians to avoid any middle ground.

... Utah’s Sen. Bennett has led the rebellion against Hayes by putting a “hold” on Hayes and another Interior nominee. Bennett says he’s protesting Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s cancellation of some controversial Utah oil and gas leases.

Yet until now, Bennett himself has been a centrist on environmental and other issues, as much as any recent Republican office-holder. Apparently now Bennett thinks he must satisfy rightwingers, to win the Republican primary when he runs for re-election next year. So he’s shifted to align himself with the defenders of poor old oil and gas.

WHAT TO CALL IT?

Branding Wilderness Lite

Editor's note: Second in a two-part series on resolving the conflict between mountain bikers and hikers over protecting roadless lands. Click here for the first part, plus a very interesting comment thread.

Last week, I wrote about options hikers and wilderness groups had to make peace with mountain bikers so the two key constituencies could work together to protect roadless land. One option was urging Congress to pass another organic act creating a true alternative land designation. But what to call it?

In past commentaries, I'm used the words "Wilderness Lite" to refer to various land designations that provide almost as much protection as the "Big W" Wilderness Congress designates under the Wilderness Act of 1964. Basically, cutting to the chase, I can more precisely define "Wilderness Lite" as "Wilderness that allows mountain biking."

GUN POLITICS IS GETTING VERY INTERESTING

Crapo Introduces Bill to Codify National Park Gun Rule

A lot of people might wonder why and how the national parks became a Second Amendment battleground, but nobody really thinks the war will end anytime soon. Now, Congress has decided to make sure the fight goes on.

On January 9, a Bush administration rule to allow loaded and concealed firearms in national parks and wildlife refuges went into effect, but the Brady Campaign and National Parks and Conservation Association sued to overturn it, successfully. On March 19, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of Washington, D.C. granted the plaintiffs an injunction to prevent the Department of the Interior from implementing the rule. One day later, the National Rifle Association (NRA) appealed, but the judge has not ruled on the appeal.

Now, on April 2, Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID) introduced a bill (S.816) to codify the Bush administration rule to, according to a NRA alert, "restore the Second Amendment rights of visitors in national parks and wildlife refuges."

IDAHO'S FIRST WILDERNESS SINCE 1980

Crapo, Conservationists Laud Passage of Public Lands Bill

UPDATED 6 pm, March 30. President Barack Obama signed the public lands bill today. George Cooper, President and CEO of the Theordore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, attended the White House signing ceremony and invoked the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt in assessing the president’s actions. “Theodore Roosevelt once said, ‘We have fallen heirs to the most glorious heritage a people ever received, and each one must do his part if we wish to show that the nation is worthy of its good fortune.' With today’s events, Roosevelt’s words take on a new and deeper meaning. Ratification of this historic measure represents an important victory for sportsmen, as well as for our natural resources and activities that rely on our nation’s public lands."

After years of compromise, delay, failed votes, parliamentary games, all frequently sprinkled with vitriol from detractors, but countered with the hard work by many thousands of supporters, Congress has, finally, passed the Omnibus Public Lands Bill. The 1,300-page behemoth is actually a compilation of around 170 pieces of legislation, including Idaho's first wilderness in 29 years, protection for the Wyoming Range, and wilderness and wild river designations in nine states, not including Montana.

The Senate passed the massive bill, again (click here to read about it), last week. Yesterday, the House voted 285-140 to pass the same bill. Since the House passed an exact copy of the Senate-passed bill, it won't be stalled in a conference committee and subject to re-votes. Instead, it goes directly to the White House where everybody involved expects President Obama to sign it, probably next week.

IT'S BECOME A REAL BATTLEFIELD BILL

House Votes on Public Lands Bill Today

THIRD UPDATE: March 25, 12:15 PM. The House voted 283-140 to pass public lands bill with 136 Republicans and 4 Democrats voting "nay." This would have been enough to pass for a super-majority, two-thirds vote.

SECOND UPDATE, March 25, 9:15 am.

UPDATED March 19, 11 a.m. at end of article.

Anybody interested in protecting public land knows about S.22, a massive piece of legislation, a compilation of 190 bills that Congress has been working on for years. Six days ago, it unexpectedly failed (click here), unable to get a super majority in the U.S. House of Representatives by a mere two votes, 282-144, even though the Senate had passed it 73-21.

That bad beat made political insiders scratch their heads. Why would the House leadership bring S. 22 up for a vote under suspension of rules, which requires a two-thirds majority, without the votes to pass it?

I've been calling around on to get the answer to that question and to find out what might happen next. Here's the skinny on the House vote and alas, how President Obama will have the opportunity to sign this bill into law as early as next week. You could call it "revolutionary" politics.

THIS JUST IN

House Votes Down Public Lands Bill

UPDATED at 12:55 pm. Update at end of article.
In a surprise vote this morning, the U.S. House of Representatives failed to achieve the two-thirds majority needed to pass a landmark public lands protection bill that would have ensured access and opportunity for hunters and anglers today and for generations to come.

That news just in courtesy of Trout Unlimited, one of the main backers of the massive bill that the U.S. Senate has already passed.

NOTHING THERE BUT POLITICAL DOWNSIDE

Obama, Get Real on “Assault Weapons,” Put a Cork in Holder

I went to my first gun show a couple of weeks ago, but when I wrote about it, I left out the buzz concerning the proposed reauthorization of the so-called "Assault Weapon Ban (AWB)." I have a lot to say about it, so I saved it for this column.

For starters, with all the massive messes the Obama administration has to unravel, why is our new president allowing his attorney general to embark on a meaningless mission to nowhere? And in conflict with his campaign commitments and his party's plans to stay in power?

POLITICS CREATES THE STRANGEST BEDFELLOWS

Oops, the NRA Agrees With Obama

Editor's Note: I posted my weekly column (Are Bison Wildlife or Livestock?) early this week, but I couldn't help filling up my normal Thursday slot with this little political irony for all my gun nutty friends.--Bill Schneider

Politics can be frustrating and maddening, but it can also be interesting and ironical.