Lawmaker threatens ‘arrogant’ BLM with eventual budget cuts, staff reductions

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), one of Congress’ most garrulous lawmakers and a favorite target of the left’s gaffe-detecting brigade, didn’t sound crazy at all during a late-May hearing involving the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

Gohmert took the opportunity to excoriate the BLM for what he described as “the arrogance of people on U.S. Forest Service land and [Department of the] Interior land,” suggesting that Congress could wield its power of the purse to effectively curb overly-ambitious federal land management.

“I come bearing good news,” Gohmert told BLM and Forest Service officials at the hearing. “I think if your employees keep up the arrogance, keep denying access to the land, then very soon we’ll be able to dramatically cut your employees back and start turning those powers over to the states.

At issue was the extent of access that federal employees may grant to recreational users of federal lands. Gohmert was incensed at number of complaints he’d heard about private citizens being turned away from national forests and BLM land, according to CNS News.

Here’s more from Gohmert, as reported by CNS:

“Today, I wanted to take advantage of your presence here by letting you know things I’ve been hearing,” Gohmert said. “About the arrogance of people on U.S. Forest Service land and [Department of the] Interior land — national forests — even from law enforcement, they say it’s just gotten tougher and tougher to deal with arrogant people on the national forests. Not getting access when they need it, not working with local law enforcement. And that’s been really helpful to me.

“Some of us have been pushing for a while — let’s just dramatically cut back the U.S. Forest Service, the BLM, the Department of Interior and let each state manage the federal land within its boundaries.

The hearing was assembled to discuss a House bill, the Sportsmen’s Heritage and Recreational Enhancement (SHARE) Act, designed to “increase opportunities for hunters, anglers, and recreational shooters; eliminate regulatory impediments and safeguard against new regulations that will impede outdoor sporting activities; and protect Second Amendment rights.”

Rep. Robert Latta (R-Ohio) is the bill’s sponsor.

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