Environmental Lawyer Claims "Westerman" Bill Seeks to Privatize Public Lands for Logging

KDNK | By Raleigh Burleigh

Published June 27, 2017 at 2:35 PM MDT

Today the House Committee on Natural Resources begins to review House Bill 2936, The Resilient Federal Forests Act of 2017, AKA "Westerman" Bill after its author Arkansas Republican Bruce Westerman. Although its sponsors claim the bill will improve the health of forests, one environmental lawyer has called it “a wish list from the timber industry,” claiming that it seeks to eliminate environmental laws and privatize public lands. Raleigh Burleigh speaks with Susan Jane Brown of Western Environmental Law Center to learn more about the provisions contained within the bill, including a repeal of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument designation.

Tags

Raleigh Burleigh

Raleigh Burleigh was raised in the historic floodplanes of Satank. The Carbondale Rotary Club sponsored him as a youth ambassador to Chile the year before his graduation from Roaring Fork High School. He studied International Affairs and Journalism at the University of Colorado, Boulder then applied those studies traveling throughout South America the following year. Returning to Carbondale thereafter, Raleigh acquired an internship with KDNK News which led to the opportunity to serve as News Director from 2017 to 2019. After another trip to South America in early 2019, Raleigh Burleigh drew deeper into the confluence as Program Director at KDNK. Raleigh now serves on KDNK's board of directors and as editor of Carbondale's weekly newspaper, The Sopris Sun.

See stories by Raleigh Burleigh