From the report it appears that friendly federal employees slipped the report to some environmentalists they knew because they were concerned.  Thank god for that.  Still some good people left in government.  Here's a few of the juicy parts:

"Kieran Suckling, from the Center for Biological Diversity, says some of the documents are dated last month. And the most important document was dated last June, but updated recently.

"But if you look at the editing trail," he says, "you can see that those documents also were last edited in February of this year. So despite the administration's attempt to say this is all old stuff and it has nothing to do with what we're doing today the paper trail clearly shows they're very current."

Many of the proposals spring from lawsuits the government lost to environmental groups in recent years. Environmentalists say the proposals taken as a whole would gut protections for rare animals and plants, and help a whole range of industries from construction to hydroelectricity.

John Kostyack, of the National Wildlife Federation, says a lawsuit filed by his group probably inspired one of the proposals. The case was about whether the government should require dam operators to protect endangered salmon in the Pacific Northwest.

"The administration lost because they were arguing that they were not responsible for the very endangered condition of the salmon," he says. "And as long as their project didn't worsen that very endangered situation, then they had no responsibility. The court said no."

The judge ordered the government to find ways to better protect the salmon, but Kostyack says under the new proposals that obligation would disappear. The government could keep giving industries permission to do things that harmed species, even on public land.

"As long as you weren't worsening an already bad situation, you have no responsibility," Kostyack explains."

Not Cliff Notes, but you get the idea.  I'm not surprised to see this administration flouting a law, a judge, the land, and any fish in the water.  But I was somewhat taken aback because with the current Democratic Majority in both the House & the Senate, where would this ever get off the ground?

And you see that's why I'm writing this.  I just don't know that these rewrites need approval of other elected bodies.  I figure many of you out there would know though.  So, take a moment from the Kyle Sampson day and read something about the land we live in.  If it hacks you off just enough, link the NPR article into an email to every elected official you know.  Environment is a curious beast in that it isn't only progressives who want to keep it healthy.  Some very conservative friends of mine do too.  Granted, they're outdoors folks.  They camp, they fish, they hunt.  I'm happy to have their help in this matter as we are seeing with much the rest of this Administrations misplaced priorities.  We're all in this together and the only thing thats going to save us is if we all work together for it.  Corny, I know, but true.  Enjoy now.