US Forest Service Land Sales – Moving in the Wrong Direction

The Bush administration's FY2007 Budget proposes to fund budget shortfalls by selling nearly a billion dollars worth of our National Forest land.  The administration has identified more than 300,000 acres of National Forest, including thousands of acres in the Southeast, that could be sold to fund the Secure Rural School and Community Self-Determination program .  While we agree that funding our nation’s education system should be a priority, selling off public land isn’t an appropriate solution.

The official notice and call for comments was released by the USDA Forest Service on February 28, 2006.  The public comment period has been extended until May 1, 2006. 

 

Here is the USFS link to the Lands Potentially for Sale

http://www.fs.fed.us/land/staff/spd.html

We are working hard on maps that detail the parcels that are for sale under this program.  We will post more detailed maps online.

Check out the map of NC's Spring Creek area. There are tracts in the land sale proposal that contain documented old growth forests. Also, check out our press release about this work.

 

Southern Appalachian States - Total Proposed Acreage to Sell

Here are a few easy things you can do to protect our public land:

1 - Talk to your friends and family about the importance of National Forests. Send them a link to this page! We will only win this battle if people speak out!

2 - Submit comments to the Forest Service. Here are some talking points to help get you started.  The deadline for comments is May 1, 2006.

You may submit your comments by e-mail to SRS_Land_Sales@fs.fed.us , by facsimile to (202) 205-1604, or by mail to:

USDA Forest Service

SRS Comments, Lands 4S

1400 Independence Ave., SW

Mailstop 1124

Washington, DC 20250-0003

3 - Copy your Senators and Representatives on your letter. Many Congressional representatives are already speaking out against this ill-conceived plan and they need to know that we don’t support selling ANY public land. Find addresses for your reps at www.house.gov and www.senate.gov.

 

Talking points (more details here):

•  Selling public land is a move in the wrong direction.

•  This proposal is a short-term solution for a long-term need.

•  The parcels that are up for sale ARE valuable.

•  The East carries an inordinate burden in this land sale proposal.

•  Selling public land encourages “sprawl”.

•  Opportunities to address habitat fragmentation are already shrinking.

•  Selling public lands is contrary to citizens’ desires.

•  Our public lands deserve better than to be treated as a budgetary slush fund.

 

But let’s get to the real issue: No amount of money is worth the permanent loss of our public lands.  National Forests are where we hike, camp, paddle, and renew - NOT where we fund the Rural Schools program.

Let’s keep the ‘public’ in public lands!

 

Editorial pages across the region oppose President Bush's budget

proposal to sell off national forest lands

“A proposal to sell as much as 300,000 acres of public land, including national forest

land, to help a program that funds rural schools appears to be short on merits and even shorter on vision ... The idea of selling off land to help fund the act has been described in some corners as selling your house to pay off your credit cards, and that’s about right. It’s one-time money to fund an ongoing program, a method that can’t be repeated forever ... If Congress wants to renew this program, it should fund it, not sell off land to fund it for only five years. Pardon us for being cynical, but the total amount represents what the government borrows by lunchtime on any given day.”

-- The Ashville Citizen Times (NC)

“While conservationists and local governments look to improve protections for the Francis Marion National Forest , the Bush administration is considering how to sell off some of the protected acreage. It just doesn't make sense. Federal officials would do better to assist the local effort to preserve the integrity of the forest ... South Carolina 's congressional delegation should oppose a proposal that would reduce protected

acreage in national forests, particularly in areas that face relentless pressures from growth and development.”

-- The Charleston Post & Courier (SC)

“Selling off pieces of national forests is a short-sighted way to help host counties meet public needs. Preserving them ought to be a high priority…Congress should insist on that.”

“[T]he land is not the president's to sell. It didn't belong to him when he embarked on a quest to open roadless areas to logging and oil and gas drilling. And he certainly doesn't hold the title to the 300,000 acres, 5,717 of them in Virginia , that he plans to auction at his rummage sale ... The land belongs to all Americans, present and future... Once the land is sold … it cannot easily be recaptured. Americans will have lost something of far

greater value than a few thousands dollars funneled into school systems.”

-- The Roanoke Times (VA)

Government officials make it sound like the land in the 640,000-acre Cherokee National Forest wouldn't be missed because most of the 38 parcels are either not contiguous with the rest of the forest or are so isolated they are difficult to manage. The fact remains, however, that they are public lands. The government was able to purchase these lands at very reasonable prices - in short, a bargain - because the timber companies had pretty well leveled all the timber on the property, and it was not attractive to other buyers. It was an investment that paid off well for the residents of East Tennessee and the United States .

-- Knoxville News Sentinel, Knoxville, TN