November 16, 2020 - WASHINGTON, D.C. -- On Friday, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt issued a secretarial order that thwarts the ability to pursue projects funded by the Land and Water Conservation Fund on 
national public land. Some of the language of this order was drawn from amendments to the original bill that were rejected in the legislative process. This is the administration’s second attack on GAOA in as many weeks, after the Department of the Interior broke the law by failing to submit required paperwork to Congress by a November 3 deadline.
In response, Athan Manuel, director of lands protection at Sierra Club, released the following statement:
“The Trump administration spent nearly four years gutting environmental regulations, dismantling national monuments, and selling off public lands to oil and gas interests. The Great American Outdoors Act seems to be next on the chopping block.
“At best, the administration is incompetent at following its own laws. At worst, they had no intention of upholding the law in the first place. We are hopeful President-elect Biden will live up to the spirit of the law to build a safer and more equitable outdoors for all.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.
Source: Sierra Club
