For sale: forests in the Gorge, Bend, Tahoe…
March 2nd, 2006
Background: In an obscene attempt to privatize our public lands, the Bush administration proposes to auction to the highest bidder “isolated” forestland to pay for rural schools. Hundreds of thousands of acres will be chopped out of Bitterroot National Forest, the Columbia Gorge, and many other national treasures. If this scheme is allowed to proceed, year after year, we can expect our public lands to be sold to make up for the Bush-created national deficit.
You can now use the complicated tool to view precisely what lands Bush wants to sell. It’s difficult to use, so I have done some of the legwork.
In the following maps, the areas bordered by green are slated for sale by the Federal Government. These few maps are only a fraction of the 800,000 acres proposed for sale nationwide, and only a fraction even within Oregon.
That’s the Gorge. Recognize Eagle Creek? Well, lands near it are for sale. And, really, how “isolated” are these tracts? They are cleaved directly off a main forest area, in a National Scenic Area. Just imagine: if lands in the Gorge are deemed “worthless”, what other vital lands are for sale in other states?
Above Detroit Lake, on the Upper Santiam (a great kayaking spot), we see more “isolated” and “worthless” lands slated for sale.
And around Bend, more lands for sale.
I suppose we should count ourselves lucky, of course. California has it much worse. That state has 80,000+ acres for sale. Please note the scale of the above map… you are seeing Medford all the way down past Mt Shasta. The public land for sale just in this area is several thousand acres of important forest.
Poor lake Tahoe… the “valueless” lands in its National Forest are up for sale.
And Colorado gets hit, too.
What can you do to stop this?
- Take 1 minute to write to your congressional reps to stop this nonsense.
- MORE IMPORTANT. We are now in the 30-day comment period for this proposal. It is essential that you take a few minutes to write your own reasons why this proposal should be scrapped. Even if it is short, your comments will be entered into the Federal record and taken seriously. Form letters are given less weight than your own carefully worded letter. Postal mail is better than e-mail.
Comments on the proposed list must be received by March 30 and may be sent by e-mail to SRS_Land_Sales@fs.fed.us. Written comments may be sent to: USDA Forest Service, SRS Comments, Lands 4S, 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Mailstop 1124, Washington, DC, 20250-0003. Send faxed comments to (202) 205-1604.
At a minimum, please send email to SRS_Land_Sales@fs.fed.us with the subject “SRS Comments”. Write a few sentences asking that this entire scheme be scrapped. Include your name and address at the bottom.
- Tell your friends! Send them a link to this page.
Related posts: National forestland being sold by Bush admin..., The end of ranching (and the need for land use safeguards), A devastating year (so far) for Oregon and the environment...
6 Comments Add your own
1. emmasnacker | March 2nd, 2006 at 8:34 pm
Thanks for all your work on this. We are all under seige these days, but beautiful Oregon seems to be getting really hard hit. My heart breaks every day over this stuff.
I don’t have any children. And I wonder every day how people who do can sit watching tv, and shopping the Wal-mart, while their children’s lives and futures are being posioned and stolen.
2. Wanda L Greene | March 19th, 2006 at 6:55 pm
I feel that this proposal for sale of this land should be scraped after all our wilderness has been raped enough our wildlife already dosent have any wher to go because all their habitant is being cut down and destroyed, already they are wondering into our neighborhoods and then people are killing them or they are being transported to some other area or else they have to be put to sleep if they become a problem.Surely there is another answer to this problem .Our children and grandchildren are never going to know what wildness is because everything is going to be devopled , please screpe this plan.
3. Lisa Vinzant | March 27th, 2006 at 10:40 am
I am writing to encourage lawmakers to leave the National Forest land alone! Once that land is sold off it is gone for good, and who knows how it will be used. Any tax money generated will quickly disappear in comparison to the value of undeveloped land . Please consider the future of this country and the deminishing environment around us and do not sell the public land.
4. Tom & Betty Cornish | March 27th, 2006 at 6:27 pm
We strongly disagree with the U.S. Government plan to sell National Forest Land to the highest bidder. This property is the heritage of the American People handed down by our forefather’s. It was never, repeat never, intended to be bought or sold in the U.S. Government temples of moneychangers as mentioned in the bible. This is solely the heritage of the American people and only they can decide if it should ever be sold.
Respectfully,
Thomas & Betty Cornish
5. Peter Bray | March 27th, 2006 at 7:07 pm
Thankyou very much for the comments…
Hopefully it is clear, but this comment section is just comments for this blog, NOT to the Federal government.
Please leave comments here, but also email SRS_Land_Sales@fs.fed.us saying the same thing! This will put your opinion “on the record” and it will be highly considered. Please do this before March 30.
Peter
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