Bush administration moves to sell national forest land

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

mpareni.livejournal.com/6274633.html

<snip>

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration will unveil a proposal Friday to sell up to 200,000 acres of national forest land in "isolated parcels" ranging from a quarter of an acre to 200 acres, much of it in California.
The sale is part of a National Forest Service plan to raise $800 million over the next five years to pay for rural schools in 41 states, offsetting shrinking revenues from sale of timber from national forests. The Bureau of Land Management also plans to sell federal lands to raise an estimated $182 million over five years.

Environmentalists charge that the short-term gain would be more than offset by the loss of public land. Congress would have to approve the land sales, but it has rejected similar recent proposals. "I am outraged, and I don't think the public is going to stand for it for one minute," said Wilderness Society policy analyst Mike Anderson. "It's a scheme to raise money at the expense of the national forests, the wildlife, recreation and all the other values that Americans hold dear. It's the ultimate threat to the national forest."

Details about what plots of land would be put up for sale are expected to be revealed at a noon press conference by Undersecretary of Agriculture Mark Rey, a former timber industry lobbyist. The Forest Service owns 193 million acres of land and plans to sell about 175,000 to 200,000 acres, according to Forest Service spokeswoman Heidi Valetkevitch.

"They could be theoretically from every national forest," Valetkevitch said. "California has a lot on the list, I understand."


<snip>

Why am I not surprised?

[saltpoint]

1. There isn't time in our lifetimes to grocery-list all the abominable

transgressions -- both material and spiritual -- visited upon the nation and world by this administration. But among the uncountable many and the deeply grievous is the insensitivity toward precedent, including the environmental truth that people have links to land, air, water, and unmitigated space.

Bush is a clod in matters of the environment. He has power and profile, but not perception and respect for historical and cultural precedent. He's a shallow, selfish, scorched-earth clod.

[tmooses]

2. The price of being a blue state when the president is a

coroporate whore.

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

4. Whoring out our beautiful land for corporate profit. That's pretty

much what it boils down to.

[Botany]

3. Why do you hate America?

Can't you see this needs developed?

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

5. Gorgeous. Where is that?

Glad I got to see Yosemite this past last summer. I will help fight this, however.

[Botany]

7. Northern Wisconsin

Chequamegon Forest ..... nice country.

Man are they short sighted ..... our rural and wild areas give us our water ......
the coming water shortage will make oil shortages look like nothing.

[Erika]

6. In Idaho, our GOP DC reps are 100% against selling our lands

Some of the land under consideration for sale are prime recreation areas enjoyed heavily by the public. Selling them off to the rich and losing them permanently to the average Idahoan is even too much for the Idaho GOP to stomach. This is a BIG issue in Idaho.

[CrazyOrangeCat]

8. Miserable mutherfuckers!

They have no right to sell any piece of public land . . . by definition, it is everyone's!

Goddamn them.

Somebody should remind them that a Republican, T. Roosevelt, set up the modern idea of public land.

Greedy corporate shitstains!

Now, whar's mah patent tonic medicine???

:beer:

[crizzo5137]

9. Well damn...

Had the Chimp in chief not got us into the position of spending $100,000 a minute in Iraq he could pay for the rural schools...

.....The sale is part of a National Forest Service plan to raise $800 million over the next five years to pay for rural schools in 41 states......


hmmm...100,000 a minute... 6,000,000 an hour... 144,000,000 a day...

If that asshat would have waited just 6 days we would have that money for rural schools.. But then again, im assuming the Chimp has a soul...

[crizzo5137]

10. Oh yeah, for people who have seen Rent....

Its a great broadway show.. One of the better songs is '525,600 minutes' to those who dont know the show/song its relating time to love.. there are 525,600 minutes in a year <non-leap year, dont want to get corrected..:)...>


So by that math Iraq costs 525,600 x $100,000 gives us the WONDERFUL total of 52,560,000,000..


Gosh, Bush will need to sell every tree in the country to fund education, health, vet bene's,etc...


YAY!!!!!! I feel like a beer...