Western lawmakers must keep up the pressure to ensure the Bush administration backs off an alarming plan to sell chunks of national forests and other public lands. Bipartisan opposition to the proposal, which calls for selling 300,000 acres of national forests and a half-million acres of Bureau of Land Management holdings, clearly shows that Westerners cherish the federal lands in our region.
The Agriculture and Interior departments recently unveiled plans to sell the 800,000 acres primarily to raise $1.15 billion for the Treasury. Under existing law, the two departments sometimes sell small parcels to simplify management of lands.
But this plan is fundamentally different because its aims defy good stewardship of public resources. The administration has said, especially regarding BLM sales, that the main goal is to raise money. However, the shift of valuable property into private hands may prove a windfall for developers or wealthy landowners and appeal to the administration’s ideological bias against public land ownership. Since the plan needs congressional approval, Westerners must unite to stop the project. And they are.
“This is about paying off a debt with a priceless asset,” said U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo. Sen. Ken Salazar and Rep. John Salazar, both Colorado Democrats, say they’ll fight the plan. Republican Sen. Wayne Allard is troubled by the idea of selling forest lands to fill a budgetary need and thinks the proposal faces an uphill battle on Capitol Hill. We hope he takes a leadership role in killing the plan.
Other Westerners agree. “Heck no,” U.S. Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, said to the proposal. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., vowed to “do everything I can” to stop it.
Some proceeds from national forest sales would help rural schools in struggling former logging towns, mostly in Oregon and Washington. “The towns that are hurting, there are ways we ought to take care of them, but selling off public lands isn’t one of them,” said U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., who called the proposal “ridiculous.” Rep. Barbara Cubin, R-Wyo., an administration loyalist, says she’s “not convinced” federal lands should be sold to fund rural schools.
National forest acres in Colorado that may be headed for auction include scenic areas near Rocky Mountain National Park, Mount Evans and Grays and Torrey peaks.
But much more public and political attention should be paid to the onerous plan to make the BLM sell irreplaceable public lands. Many Westerners don’t fully appreciate the public value that the BLM’s holdings provide our region, including wildlife habitat and recreation opportunities. It is time for the Bush administration to drop the land sale plan.
