Wednesday, November 23, 2005

The Slippery Slope: Public lands sales

Guest opinion by Steve Wolper


Steve Wolper, of Ketchum, is a founding member of Citizens for Smart Growth.

There is a concerted movement in the Republican Congress to dispose of our public lands and even national parks. Behind it are Rep. Richard Pombo of California (identified as one of Congress's 13 most corrupt), along with others similarly minded. Under the guise of "balancing the budget," "paying for Katrina relief," "providing rural economic revitalization," they have inserted riders in the present Budget Reconciliation Bill to sell 520 acres in Clayton, Idaho (to a buddy from California); to the most egregious -- allowing as many as 50 million acres of mining claims to be converted into private land. A veritable developer's Bill of Rights.

Whether absurdly imbalanced land trades (like Earl Holding's, 1996 award winning, "Fleecing of America" -- Snow Basin land swap) or the out-right disposal of about 6000 acres of public land, in Rep. Mike Simpson's Central Idaho Economic and Recreation Act, the underlying belief is always the same; public land is a commodity -- a currency --used at whim, to barter or pay for pet projects, be they of value to the public or not (and it's usually not). There's money in them thar hills and it's not the minerals beneath them.

Custer County's having a problem meeting its budget because Congress isn't funding its Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) grants? Want a bit of Wilderness? No problem -- sell off several thousand acres of public land. Need even more money -- how about another 520 acres in Clayton?

Where are the conservation organizations we rely on to fight to protect our public lands? Oops, two of our state's big ones are already lined up at the trough. Instead of the expected outcry, we read from one executive director that the potential disposal of tens of thousands of acres of public land in Idaho "... should give anyone who cares about public lands pause." "Pause? Boy, that's tough rhetoric!

This is not an abstract threat to Blaine County. There are innumerable mining claims in our county that would make great, ugly, rural McMansions, to which we will pay to supply the community services. Like hiking, horse back riding, hunting, fishing, dirt or mountain biking? It will be hard to access behind all those "No Trespassing" signs and locked gates.

It's a slippery slope. You can't have it both ways. Either you are part of the problem, willing to treat public land as a commodity, to dispose of for your benefit; or, you stand up and defend it against those who value it only as a commodity.




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