Jeb Bush calls for moving Interior Department from D.C. to Western city

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Steve Marcus

Republican presidential candidate former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush speaks during a town-hall meeting at Pearson Community Center on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2015, in North Las Vegas.

Tue, Oct 20, 2015 (9 p.m.)

Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush will unveil his proposals for Western land and resource management in a campaign stop in Reno on Wednesday morning, in a speech likely to resonate with conservative voters opposed to what they see as federal overreach in the Western states.

Bush is expected to criticize the Obama administration for failing to work with states, local governments, Native tribes and private owners as “equal partners,” arguing that overregulation has weakened the trust of local communities in the federal government.

Bush is expected to speak at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Rancho San Rafael Regional Park before appearing at a forum sponsored by the LIBRE Initiative at the College of Southern Nevada Cheyenne Campus in North Las Vegas at 6 p.m.

In the proposal, Bush will call for moving the headquarters of the Department of Interior from Washington, D.C., to a city in the western United States like Denver, Salt Lake City or Reno and will say that as president he would direct federal agencies to give broad latitude to states to determine land-use issues.

He’s also expected to call for a revised framework on granting national monument status, convening a panel of Western leaders to propose changes. Republicans have criticized President Barack Obama, who, with the backing of Nevada Sen. Harry Reid, designated the Basin and Range National Monument over the objections of local stakeholders.

Bush will propose redirecting some funds from acquisition of new national park land to park maintenance. He will also reaffirm his opposition to the administration’s Waters of the United States rule, which defines which waterways are subject to EPA regulation and will argue for federal deference to state plans for protecting species like the sage grouse.

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