No compromise on Federal lands


Environmentalism goes too far
Here's one I am not surprised by. Or I should say, I am not surprised by the reaction.

The Bush administration today will unveil a proposal to sell as much as 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 in the next five years to pay for rural schools in 41 states, offsetting shrinking revenues from the 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.

Congress would have to approve the land sales, but it has rejected similar recent proposals.

Environmentalists contend the short-term gain would be more than offset by the loss of public land.

“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.”

But Jerry Taylor of the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, said the proposed land sales make sense.

“Private property will end up in the possession of those who value it the most,” Taylor said. “That is an iron law of economics.”

First, yes, using the proceeds of Federal land to pay for rural schools, bad idea.

But the real hypocrisy here is with the "environmental movement." Apparently someone has the idea that you can only add to the "preserved" land and never subtract. 200 thousand acres out of a 193 million, that is a smidge over one tenth of one percent.

Second, not all Federal land is equal. It's not all Yosemite, some of it is Forest Service roads next to some very scraggly pine trees. While I agree that the rural schools should not be funded by lumber or mining, I just can't buy into the notion that all Federal land is of equally worth preserving. I say protect what is worth it and sell the rest to fund the preservation.

Hat tip to Wren's Nest.

— NeoWayland

Posted: Sun - February 12, 2006 at 06:53 PM  Tag


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