Absent some Trojan Horse, this is an unusually positive initiative.

Then again, maybe some Rs started getting smart, or concerned about their next elections. If so, I'm glad for it.

... for their rich friends to get part of Spearfish Canyon/Black Hills National Forest by trading worthless Ft Pierre National Grasslands acre for acre.

"Leslie Weldon, the Forest Service’s deputy chief of the National Forest System, testified against Thune’s bill and said in a written statement that “the bill is unnecessary and contains provisions that raise concerns.”

The statement additionally said that the Forest Service already has authority to exchange land without legislation, that the recreation goals in the bill are already met through services provided in the Black Hills National Forest, that the bill proposes land-management requirements that would interfere with the federal government’s authority, and that the bill’s proposed agricultural appraisal of land values is inappropriate."

[link:https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/forest-service-opposes-swap-of-spearfish-canyon-and-bismarck-lake/article_ef44f720-443d-592e-bd50-22f30d46da89.html|

makes me wonder if there is a catch somewhere

I've been in this environmental protection biz for 45 years and this stuff doesn't happen without a backdoor screw job.

Check the fine print.

The Right uses "ANWR" to make it sound like a sterile, uninhabitable area far away from the main concerns of the people who live Outside. Out of sight, out of mind, so to speak.

My thought is that they are using this as a "I just want to put the tip in" project. If they can violate a place as pristine as the Reserve, they'll use that as an argument to rape, pillage, and plunder every other protected area in the country.

due to overcrowding of deer. They thrive in the protected environment of a large wooded park and can overflow into the private lands surrounding the park, where they cause damage to farm crops and family gardens.

I have spent a lot of time in/near Mammoth Cave in KY, and driven the boundary roads which surround the park. On the private lands across the road from the park you will see deer stands. The park herds will roam the private land, so the landowners do get them during hunting season (and sometimes out of season but woe be unto you if you get caught our of season, or even shoot into the parklands during the hunting season, or the deer goes back into the park and dies there and a ranger catches up with it) Anyway, the out of park hunting helps thin the herd both in and outside the park. The roamers thin the park herds and the resident out of the park deer keep that population down.

Years ago, seeing a deer along the road in the park was not too common; I usually see groups of them along the road especially at night. They are often run over by tourists.

We have bear (and their scat ) all over our property but if a bear hunter steps foot on our land, I'll call authorities.

Thanks.

I will start with a guess, Rand Paul.

I would be amazed if it turns out not to have a major glitch somewhere

Also voting No were the 2 Senators from Ok., Kennedy from La. Johnson from Wi., Lee was the big opponent, my Senator from Pa. voted no, Pat Toomey. I'm missing someone.

he is such an ass

Cruz (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Johnson (R-WI)
Lankford (R-OK)
Lee (R-UT)
Paul (R-KY)
Sasse (R-NE)
Toomey (R-PA)

Who doesn't like National Parks, right? And then they can say, "see? We stand up to Trump when we want to! We are not yes-man robots."

It's nice they voted for Yogi Bear and Boo-Boo, but it would be nice if they had shown some spine on something vital like Kavanutcase, too.