White House Western Land Grab

[CAelknuts]

From the Washington Times, March 2, 2010

WHITE HOUSE LAND GRAB
An unofficial memo from the White House has revealed plans for the federal government to seize more than 10 million acres from Montana to New Mexico, halting job creating activities like ranching, forestry, mining and energy development. This land grab would dry up tax revenue that is essential for funding schools, firehouses and community centers, says Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.).

The 21-page document marked "Internal Draft-NOT FOR RELEASE," names 14 different lands President Obama could completely close for development by unilaterally designating them as "monuments" under the 1906 Antiquities Act. Rep. Robert Bishop (R-Utah) made the memo public because he did not want another unilateral land grab by the White House, like what happened under former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, says DeMint:

Using the Antiquities Act, President Carter locked up more land than any other president had before him, taking more than 50 million acres in Alaska despite strong opposition from the state.
President Clinton used the authority 22 times to prohibit hunting, recreational vehicles, mining, forestry and even grazing in 5.9 million acres scattered around the country (the law allowed him to single-handedly create 19 new national monuments and expand three others without consulting anyone).
In Nevada, the Obama Administration might make another monument in the Heart of the Great Basin because it supposedly is a "center of climate change scientific research."
In Colorado, the government is considering designating the Vermillion Basin as a monument because it is "currently under the threat of oil and gas development."
The government currently owns 650 million acres, or 29 percent of the nation's total land. Federal bureaucrats should not be wasting time thinking up ways to acquire more, especially in the middle of a recession, says DeMint.

Taking the nation's resources offline will stifle job creation and dry up tax revenues. If anything, the government should be selling land off, not locking more up, says DeMint.

Source: Jim DeMint, "White House Land Grab," Washington Times, March 2, 2010.

 

[dillon]

I remember very well when Clinton told me that I had to stay off the monument for the most part, that in now the Escalante Grand National Staircase. There are only two good things in that area and one of them in my opinion is not that great of shape. They are hunting and coal. The hunting is getting worse every year on the Pausaugunt, but there is still a whole lot of coal under all that sage brush.

I have been waiting a year for Obama to do something. I wrote an 8 page paper predicting that he would about three months ago for a college class.

I am going to work for the government someday so I need to be careful what I say, but I am very against land grabbing. It just ticks everyone off.

Dillon

 

[gb22]

Dillon,

You "almost" right. It doesn't tick off the vast majority of those (miseducated and liberal) people living in our large cities...they voted for Obama and they believe the misinformation that is disseminated by our national media outlets...and schools.


Within the shadows, go quietly.

 

[brownie]

This kind of thing is happening more and more. And I hate to tell you, the vast majority of the people in this country don't really give a ---t. When the feds lock up all the natural resources, timber, minerals, and the ability to raise cheap food, it's all over for this great country. That's what set us apart from the rest of the world in the last two hundred years. This adminisration is purposely taking this country down. All you can do is vote the bums out of office, and we have that ability. Tell your friends, have them tell theirs, it's not to late to stop this runaway train! Good luck, and don't forget , vote them all out of office, good or bad, send a message to Washington, were tired of this , and were not going to take it anymore. Thanks, Brownie.

 

[Jazz]

The vast majority do live in the bigger cities. This is also true in the west with cities like LA, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Denver, Salt Lake, etc. Many people are or have already lost the connection between the land and what they use everyday. I have been personally involved with this on the forestry/timber side for years and years and I see it in farming as well. The newer generations believe that we don't have to farm because they can go to the store and buy food, we don't need to cut down trees because the 2x4 can be bought at the local Home Depot, etc. This may sound a little silly but I have lobbied in D.C. and I have heard these comments many many times from "smart" people that have lost the "connection".

On another note I always wondered why President Bush didn't use this same power to establish some of these areas in the east? Of course there is less federal land but there is still some and I always thought that would have been a good idea.