It was a bad idea when U.S. Rep. Butch Otter and other congressmen co-sponsored legislation calling for the sale of public lands to help fund disaster relief – so bad that the Idaho Republican recanted in the face of strong opposition from fellow Idahoans.

Now, the Bush administration has latched onto this bad idea as a means to help wean former timber dependent counties, such as Shoshone in North Idaho and Ferry in northeast Washington, from federal payments. The administration is proposing to sell 309,421 acres of U.S. Forest Service land, including 26,000 acres in Idaho and 7,500 in Washington. Lands targeted for sale to the highest bidder include such pristine recreation areas as English Point trail network and Mokins Bay campground on Hayden Lake. Ultimately, the plan calls for ending any kind of federal payments that rural counties and schools once received as part of the timber harvest.

On a selective basis, putting certain public lands in private ownership might generate enough economic horsepower to offset the federal funds. But prime scenic and recreational areas must be off limits.

After watching Congress go on a pork-happy spending spree, the administration has done nothing to demonstrate a real need for dumping prime public land while running an annual debt in the hundreds of billions of dollars. The initial selection of such land as the Hayden Lake property and 160 mountainous acres that Indian tribes use for vision quests near the St. Joe River raises questions about a hidden agenda.

To paraphrase what Otter said years ago as a legislator opposed to regulating pornography, U.S. citizens and Pacific Northwest residents should not only say no to the Bush administration, but heck no. The inclusion of such valuable land as the Hayden Lake properties and large tracts on the Colville National Forest raises questions about the entire inventory. What other prime pieces of public property are in there? The federal government has a responsibility to provide funding for rural counties with large chunks of public land. But not this way.

For the sake of argument, the administration’s search for a way to temporarily continue to fund the so-called Craig-Wyden “county payments” law is somewhat noble.

In a bipartisan move, U.S. Sens. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, and Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, crafted legislation in 2000 to prevent the collapse of rural economies in timber dependent areas. The bill was meant to replace the former payment-in-lieu-of-tax payments to rural counties and schools after the collapse of the timber harvest. In 2003, the program provided $4 million to Shoshone County. Ferry County in northeast Washington averages almost $1 million annually.

The administration’s goal is to raise $800 million to provide funding as the program is phased out over the next five years.

By adopting a sell-off approach, the administration is trying to shed the government’s obligation to the areas that built this nation’s homes – and continues to be shackled with pristine federal land that gives the nation enjoyment but produces no tax revenue. In a budget of more than $1 trillion, $800 million is a pittance. Money for the program could be found by shelving such pork projects as Alaska’s $200 million “bridge to nowhere.” Our public land must be protected.