BOOK REVIEW
By Don Amador
December 12, 2024
YOU REPORT TO ME – Accountability for the Failing Administrative
State
As a fellow political appointee, CA State Park
Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Commissioner (circa 1994-2000) with 34
years of experience working with government agencies and elected officials on
recreation and resource management policy and legislation, I appreciate David
Bernhardt’s book where he shares his
insights into how some career bureaucrats successfully jam the reform efforts
of a new administration.
Just how the administrative state (aka deep state)
operates to obfuscate, hinder, or bury issues and ignore leaders they disagree
with has been a topic of many conversations I have had – on a bipartisan basis –
with appointees, elected officials, recreation groups, scientists, agency
staff, attorneys, and other stakeholders.
Often those discussions center on actions taken by an
agency that just don’t make any sense.
When a regulator is questioned by an appointee or the public, the
response (if one is given at all) is irrational or confusing. Those non-responses are exacerbated when millions
of dollars are unaccounted for or misspent resulting in lost recreational opportunity.
The book is full of examples of how the administrative state
operates. However, one of my favorite stories is about the “Surname” process
where letters and other documents are “required” to jump through lengthy approval
or clearance procedures.
The book goes on to detail how unelected rule makers can
run-out-the-clock by slowing down a NEPA process they don’t like or agree with
by creating an unusable or shoddy work product that extends the final plan
until after the current leadership or elected official leaves office.
Bernhardt also illustrates how judicial deference has
empowered agencies with more authority than was originally intended by Congress.
Regardless of political affiliation, this book may help inform
those with questions about what happened with the EPA digging it their heels regarding
the closure of the BLM Clear Creek Management Area to OHVs or even at the state
level with Oceano Dunes and the Stipulated Order of Abatement.
I believe this is a must read book for all stakeholders
who want to get a better understanding of how the administrative state operates
and on potential strategies and solutions to restore accountability in federal
agencies.
# # #
Don Amador has been in the trail advocacy and recreation
management profession for over 33 years.
Don is President of Quiet Warrior Racing LLC. Don serves as the Western
States Representative for the Motorcycle Industry Council. Don is Past
President/CEO and current board member of the Post Wildfire OHV Recovery
Alliance. Don served as a contractor to the BlueRibbon Coalition from 1996
until June, 2018. Don served on the California Off-Highway Motor Vehicle
Recreation Commission from 1994-2000. He has won numerous awards including
being a 2016 Inductee into the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame and the 2018
Friend of the AMA Award. Don served as the government affairs lead for AMA
District 36 in Northern California from 2019 – 2023. Don is a Co-Founder and
current Core-Team member on FireScape Mendocino. Don is a contributor to Dealernews Magazine.
Don writes from his home in Cottonwood, CA.
