More than 21,000 acres of Colorado’s national forests and grasslands could be sold to the highest bidder as part of a federal plan to help fund rural schools.
The Bush administration’s proposed budget calls for raising $800 million nationally through sales of selected Forest Service lands.
The money would be used to extend federal aid for five years to schools and other programs in counties that have lost money as a result of reduced federal timber sales.
At a news conference Friday, Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey said more than 300,000 acres of national forests and grasslands in 34 states have been identified as candidates for the federal land sale.
Rey could not recall a larger proposed sale of Forest Service land in its history.
In Colorado alone, as many as 230 parcels of Forest Service land could be put up for sale.
They include parts of 11 national forests and grasslands in the state. Most sale parcels cover at least 40 acres; the largest are 320 acres. The Colorado list totals 21,572 acres, or nearly 34 square miles, of Forest Service land.
Rey said the $800 million needed for the rural schools program could be raised by selling about half the acreage that has been identified as “isolated, expensive to manage and no longer meeting Forest Service needs.”
The proposal drew criticism from some members of Congress, which has to approve the plan, and conservation groups.
“You don’t sell your children’s birthright to pay for their schooling,” said Suzanne Jones, the Wilderness Society’s regional director in Colorado. “It’s bad public policy. The public is not going to like this.”
Staff writer David Olinger can be reached at 303-820-1498 or dolinger@denverpost.com.
