Bush Pushing Public Lands Sales Again

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The latest plan tries to address earlier criticisms. Officials removed some 27,000 acres in 242 different parcels of National Forest land from the auction block in states like Arizona and Montana after determining they had qualities that had been overlooked. In addition to the $400 million intended to be generated for rural schools, and equal amount would be dedicated to buy desirable lands and protect habitat. That money would be divided based on the income generated from the sales, in response to criticism that states were losing public lands only to see that money flow to other states. The proposal also calls for a national advisory committee to review each parcel — David Frey/New West.

DFO: Sometimes, I wonder how closely this administration — or any administration — is tied to the people. A plan to sell off public lands to finance various good-sounding schemes, from hurricane relief to payment-in-lieu-of-taxes expenditures, is diametrically opposed to the public will. Even hard-headed Butch Otter realized that when he co-sponsored legislation to sell of public lands for disaster relief last year. Whoever’s advising Dubya on this one should resign before s/he’s tarred and feathered. (Cue up boo-bird track)

Question: Do you see any merit in this plan?