Before NEPA became law in 1970, public land management agencies held wide latitude in being able to green light huge resource extraction projects on public lands. Citizens had little say, science did not have to be heeded, and land managers were often at the beck and call of politicians friendly with private companies wanting to extract resources without accepting full environmental liabilities or accounting for impacts. Imagine if the Forest Service approved full-field energy development, like gas drilling on the Jonah Field below, inside the Bridger-Teton. How would such landscape fragmentation affect wildlife, hunting, fishing and forest serenity?  Undermining NEPA, observers say, could put woodlands in greater jeopardy. Photo courtesy EcoFlight (ecoflight.org)
Before NEPA became law in 1970, public land management agencies held wide latitude in being able to green light huge resource extraction projects on public lands. Citizens had little say, science did not have to be heeded, and land managers were often at the beck and call of politicians friendly with private companies wanting to extract resources without accepting full environmental liabilities or accounting for impacts. Imagine if the Forest Service approved full-field energy development, like gas drilling on the Jonah Field below, inside the Bridger-Teton. How would such landscape fragmentation affect wildlife, hunting, fishing and forest serenity? Undermining NEPA, observers say, could put woodlands in greater jeopardy. Photo courtesy EcoFlight (ecoflight.org)