The Interior Department is blasting Republicans for pushing a bill that would disarm its land management agents.
House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop, R-Utah, and Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, introduced a bill that would abolish federal law enforcement at the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management and leave policing on federal land to local law enforcement.
The measure would address what they refer to as abuses of power by federal agents on public lands.
“The department strongly opposes this bill, which would terminate these law enforcement functions and significantly hinder effective management of our public lands,” wrote Harry Humbert, the agency’s deputy assistant secretary for public safety, in a letter to Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee.
Grijalva had asked the agency for its response to the GOP measure.
Interior officials believe the legislation would significantly undermine the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service from protecting public lands. The agency also believes the Republican bill inaccurately assumes that local law enforcement would be willing and able to fill the void if its federal agents are disarmed.
Humbert’s letter also points out that federal and state officials do not share the same priorities and training.
