OutdoorHub
Senate Proposal puts 3mil Acres of Public Land on the Chopping Block
A new proposal from the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, spearheaded by Utah Senator Mike Lee, is poised to potentially fast-track the sale of millions of acres of public land across 11 Western states. While the House version of this bill proposed land sales of approximately 500,000 acres of land in Utah and Nevada, that provision was withdrawn three weeks ago. This new Senate proposal, if passed, would mandate the sale of public lands in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. Requiring the sale of 0.5 to 0.75% of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Forest Service Land. This is all under the guise of building more “affordable housing” to address the “housing crisis”. Although the bill does not just include small tracts of land near existing cities and suburbs, as one would expect for housing, it also includes “isolated tracts that are inefficient to manage.” Which begs the question of how these isolated tracts would be feasible for affordable housing, and additionally, what qualifies as “inefficient” as it is not clarified in the proposal.
Conservation Coverage on OutdoorHub
Yaquina Head, Washington Public Land
As of now, there has been no public process initiated to demonstrate how the sale of all these tracts of public land will alleviate the nation’s housing issue. Instead, all that we know for certain right now is that Hunters, Anglers, and anyone who enjoys the outdoors in these 11 Western states are at risk of losing access to a public resource. Just remember that once the land is sold, it’s gone from the public for good.
Wilderness Peaks, Arizona Public Lands
While this may look grim, there is still time to have this Senate proposal withdrawn, like the House version was, before it passes the Senate. For anyone who cares about public land access, contact your legislators as well as Senate Majority Leader John Thune and ask them to remove the land sale provision from the bill.
The post Senate Proposal puts 3mil Acres of Public Land on the Chopping Block appeared first on OutdoorHub.
Continue reading...
Senate Proposal puts 3mil Acres of Public Land on the Chopping Block
A new proposal from the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, spearheaded by Utah Senator Mike Lee, is poised to potentially fast-track the sale of millions of acres of public land across 11 Western states. While the House version of this bill proposed land sales of approximately 500,000 acres of land in Utah and Nevada, that provision was withdrawn three weeks ago. This new Senate proposal, if passed, would mandate the sale of public lands in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. Requiring the sale of 0.5 to 0.75% of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Forest Service Land. This is all under the guise of building more “affordable housing” to address the “housing crisis”. Although the bill does not just include small tracts of land near existing cities and suburbs, as one would expect for housing, it also includes “isolated tracts that are inefficient to manage.” Which begs the question of how these isolated tracts would be feasible for affordable housing, and additionally, what qualifies as “inefficient” as it is not clarified in the proposal.
Conservation Coverage on OutdoorHub
- Help Protect Alaska’s Wild Brooks Range
- Billfish Conservation through Community with Costa’s Marlin Fly Project
- Legislation introduced to allocate NFA Tax Stamp revenues to Wildlife Conservation Efforts
Yaquina Head, Washington Public Land
As of now, there has been no public process initiated to demonstrate how the sale of all these tracts of public land will alleviate the nation’s housing issue. Instead, all that we know for certain right now is that Hunters, Anglers, and anyone who enjoys the outdoors in these 11 Western states are at risk of losing access to a public resource. Just remember that once the land is sold, it’s gone from the public for good.
Wilderness Peaks, Arizona Public Lands
While this may look grim, there is still time to have this Senate proposal withdrawn, like the House version was, before it passes the Senate. For anyone who cares about public land access, contact your legislators as well as Senate Majority Leader John Thune and ask them to remove the land sale provision from the bill.
The post Senate Proposal puts 3mil Acres of Public Land on the Chopping Block appeared first on OutdoorHub.
Continue reading...