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Show Fires in the forest, whether wild or employed as a silvicultural tool, are another source of air pollution. violation, in addition to other applicable penalties under Federal, state, or local law. We believe that this policy would not be unduly intrusive as long as it is restricted to the stages of processing that involve the use of resources in essentially the same form as they leave the public lands, and to violations of clearly established environmental standards by the particular plant processing the resources. In other words, we do not propose that a Federal public land lease be denied a company in Utah or Alaska because that company's unrelated activity in a manufacturing plant is accused of polluting the Hudson River in New York. In the preceding discussion, it is demonstrated how the recommendation we make permits the United States to use its licensing power to protect adverse environmental impacts off the public lands. Similarly, the Federal Government should at all times manage its public lands so that its own actions will not degrade the surrounding environment. To support this conclusion, we recommend that the land management agencies should be required by statute to control fire, insect, and disease outbreaks on public lands, including wilderness areas, to assure that there is no adverse impact on any adjacent area. Covenants and Easements Recommendation 24: Federal land administering agencies should be authorized to protect the public land environment by (1) imposing protective covenants in disposals of public lands, and (2) acquiring easements on non-Federal lands adjacent to public lands. must be used in implementing this recommendation. We recommend that the activities against which such indirect leverages should be employed ought generally to be limited to those that bear a close relationship to the use of the public lands and that would have an adverse effect on the environment off the public lands. Where Federal, state, or local environmental quality standards have been established, firms that are violating these standards would be identified by the applicable level of government. Such firms should not be eligible for obtaining public land resources for use in the plant where violations occur. Federal privileges granted should be conditioned on continued compliance, and should be subject to termination for "A major deficiency is contained in 43 U.S.C. § 932, an 1866 act granting rights of way for the construction of highways over the unreserved public lands which may be initiated and constructed without federal approval. This precludes meaningful federal control over the location and design of such highways to protect environmental values." 82 Activities carried out on non-Federal lands in proximity to public lands can and do adversely affect the environment of the public lands. In addition to degrading the scenic values of the public lands, adjacent or nearby land uses can cause air and water pollution with attendant impacts upon the natural biosystems and the health of public land users. We have confidence that, because of their mutual concern, such activities in the vicinity of the public lands will be appropriately regulated by state and local authorities in close cooperation with the Federal agencies. But we must not risk failure, and, therefore, recommend that if cooperation is not prompt and successful, the agencies should be empowered to take direct action in furtherance of the preservation of the public land environment. Although some of our contract studies suggest that direct Federal regulation or zoning, in the limited situations with which we are concerned, would be appropriate and constitutionally permissible, we do not favor such an approach. Rather, we recommend |