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Forest Service undermining the consent of the governed in Holland Lake proposal – Daily Montanan [1]

['More From Author', 'January', 'George Ochenski']

Date: 2023-01-20  

In a nation founded on the principle that all power in governance resides in “We the people,” the “consent of the governed” should be the goal not only of those in the public policy arena, but in the government agencies charged with implementing those policies. That’s particularly important in the management of public lands and wildlife in Montana.

Yet, in recent times, we have troubling examples of government agencies, both state and federal, attempting to avoid prudent public scrutiny and the consent of the governed.

The poster child for this form of governmental abuse is the recent Forest Service debacle with the Holland Lake Lodge. In a nutshell, the agency tried to slide a large proposed expansion of the historic Holland Lake Lodge by new owners under the phony cover of a “categorical exclusion” from environmental analysis as required by the National Environmental Policy Act.

Categorical exclusions were allowed for simple maintenance projects land management agencies routinely do that are not expected to have any impact on the environment. That would include such activities as painting outhouses, putting new roofs on buildings, painting lines on the parking lots, et cetera. The exclusion was never intended to be applied to major actions such as the significant expansion of private facilities on public lands operating under the conditions of a special-use permit as in the case of the Holland Lake Lodge.

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[1] Url: https://dailymontanan.com/2023/01/20/forest-service-undermining-the-consent-of-the-governed-in-holland-lake-proposal/

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