Public land garage sale also includes national monument land

[montana500]

www.wilderness-sportsman.com

"December 1, 2005 (Washington, DC) - Millions of acres of western public land, including popular destinations in National Monuments and Wilderness Areas, could soon be put up for sale by legislation under consideration in Congress. The potential impacts of this mining-related provision on National Parks and National Forests has garnered some national media attention, but a recent analysis shows that the proposed sell-off also threatens many of the most unique and treasured lands protected by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

The proposed mining legislation, which was tucked into the House version of the budget reconciliation bill by Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo (R-CA), would revise an 1872 mining law and authorize the sale of federal public lands. Under the legislation, lands and waters of the BLM’s National Landscape Conservation System would be made available for private purchase if there is a pre-existing mining claim. New mining claims would be permitted in Wilderness Study Areas and on BLM lands outside of the Conservation System. A conservative estimate of the provision’s reach is at least 6 million acres of federal land, including thousands of acres of pre-existing claims within National Monuments, Wilderness Areas, and along Wild and Scenic Rivers.

“Most Americans assume, for good reason, that our National Monuments and other national conservation lands are protected forever,” said Dave Alberswerth, Senior Policy Advisor at The Wilderness Society. “That’s how it’s supposed to be. But before most Americans know what happened, this radical plan would sweep away the protections and sell-off large chunks of the public’s finest lands for chump change.”

[ourbluenation]

1. Where is the outrage! I cannot understand how this is flying so low

under the radar? Come on people - get the word out!

[ourbluenation]

2. kicking kicking kicking before I'm outta here.

I'm sick of this slipping of things into bills...they do it on both sides of the isle, but this one is particularly maddening.

[ourbluenation]

3. all right - one more kick before I really go....come on DUr's get excited!

people - we need to stop this. Maybe the Sierra club can purchase the land all though I'd rather it not be sold at all.

[idiosyncratic]

4. My sadness about this knows no bounds. It cannot be allowed

to happen. The problem is that most people don't even know what BLM stands for. They have never witnessed the beauty of these lands.

That land in National Monuments could be sold off to the highest bidder is not just wrong, it is evil . . . :cry:

[SammyWinstonJack]

5. K & R

[acmavm]

6. And? We can stop it how? Got a plan besides outrage? I've already got

plenty of that. These bastards have sold my children and grandchildren and on and on down the river without batting an eye. See, they plan on their kids being in some heavily guarded enclave when the shit hits the fan. Our reps think that the corporate thieves will protect their progeny from the wrath of the hordes when things get to the Soylent Green phase. That is, the ones that haven't already taken in enough money to feel safe now. Little do they know that they are sealing the doom of the entire planet with their nasty money-grubbing sellouts and schemes.

[donkeyotay]

7. Outrage fatigue. One has to pick and choose how to fight these f*kers

And thinking about what they are doing to the environment is too heartbreaking to contemplate. I would suggest to anyone interested, tho, that this is no doubt a payback to a GOP bigwig. Maybe look at who has a big stake in these pre-existing claims. There's no doubt a money scandal underneath the political scandal.

[texpatriot2004]

8. I am outraged. I have outrage fatigue. n.t

[nicknameless]

9. I wonder if the Abramoff scandal includes those involved in this repugnant

give-away scheme...

[Shallah Kali]

10. Semi-OT Pombo is friendly with Sun Myung Moon

http://iapprovethismessiah.com/2005/11/congressman-pombo-and-moon.html

In an unrelated matter, at an event in San Francisco at the San Francisco Hilton on September 29, titled "God's Ideal family: The Model for World Peace," sponsored by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church (now called the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification), an article about the event noted that the group received several letters of "commendation" including one from Rep. Pombo.

[ochazuke]

11. Outrage

like in a dream where you scream and nothing comes out.

[natrat]

12. really wierd how this doesn't get public blood boiling