Selling America's Public Lands

March 29, 2006

Dear Email Sentry:

Sell America's public lands? According to President Bush's budget, it will help reduce the enormous federal deficit and fund a "Secure Rural Schools and Community Act."

As hunters lose more and more access to prized hunting grounds, these public lands become more valuable and more important. Proposing to sell them off in order to secure one-time solutions for budget shortfalls is to rob this, and future, generations of a great national legacy.

But that doesn’t seem to matter in Washington DC.

House Budget Committee Chairman Jim Nussle is considering the President's proposal to sell off both Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management [BLM] lands in this year's FY07 budget resolution - the bill could get out of committee as early as
Wednesday. This is the same tactic as what was tried with the Pombo land grab last year.

The House is expected to release its budget resolution as early as this Wednesday. Chairman Jim Nussle has indicated he will include President Bush's proposal to sell off nearly a million acres of public lands managed by both the Forest Service and BLM.

We need to FLOOD Montana’s Congressional Delegation with phone calls in the next three days and urge them to tell Nussle to drop any reconciliation instructions that would allow for a fire sale of America's public lands.

Rep. Denny Rehberg
516 Cannon House Office Bldg.
Washington, DC, 20515
phone: (202) 225-3211
fax: (202) 225-5687
email: denny.rehberg@mail.house.gov
go to http://www.house.gov/rehberg/ (if email address fails)

Senator Max Baucus
511 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, D.C. 20510-2602
phone: (202) 224-2651
fax: (202) 224-0515
toll free in Montana: 800-332-6106
email: max@baucus.senate.gov

Senator Conrad Burns
187 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, D.C. 20510-2603
phone: (202) 224-2644
fax: (202) 224-8594
toll free from Montana: 800-344-1513
email: conrad_burns@burns.senate.gov
go to http://burns.senate.gov/public/ (if email address fails)

If you have any questions or comments, call Nathan Birkeland at 800-517-7256 or email him at nbirkeland@mtwf.org, more information is added below...

MORE INFO…

Using the budget to push unpopular proposals is nothing new. The same tactics were used recently by Rep Richard Pombo. While many members of Congress have released strong statements opposing the proposed land sales, their possible inclusion in the budget would allow proponents to avoid a full, fair and open debate. It's critical that we keep this public lands grab loophole out of the Budget Resolution in this first critical stage--the Budget Resolution.

How would it fund rural schools?

Under the President's proposal, the reauthorization of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Act would depend on the sale of 300,000 acres of national forest lands as a source of funding. The Secure Rural Schools and Community Act is important legislation and has stabilized funding for rural schools across the country, even while stimulating important, locally supported management initiatives on national forest land.

This law deserves to be reauthorized; what it doesn't deserve is a controversial, short-term funding source that doesn't address the need to permanently fund rural schools.

Congress should reauthorize this act, but not by selling public lands to developers and private interests.

Would it really reduce the deficit? The President also proposes to sell up to 500,000 acres of land managed by the BLM in order to raise $300 million to reduce the federal deficit. The current annual federal deficit is nearly $450 billion.

This proposal is a serious threat to the public trust embodied by the nation's public lands. Drawing down this trust for a miniscule reduction in the federal deficit ignores the enormous benefits that our public lands provide for clean water, fish and wildlife habitat, ecosystem health and diversity, natural resources and outdoor recreation. These benefits are always accruing and will only grow more valuable as the nation's population and economy continue to grow.

Thank you for all you do for Montana's public lands, wildlife, and fair-chase hunting and fishing heritage.

Montana Wildlife Federation, with nearly 7,000 members, is the largest and oldest statewide nonprofit wildlife conservation organization of hunters and anglers who work to protect Montana's lands and waters and its hunting and fishing heritage.

To learn more about MWF, go to www.montanawildlife.com.

Larry Copenhaver
Conservation Director
Montana Wildlife Federation
Web-site: www.montanawildlife.com
Email: lcopenhaver@mtwf.org
[406] 458-0227
[800] 517-7256

This message is brought to you by the Montana Wildlife Federation ... Montana's largest, statewide wildlife conservation organization with over 7,000 members.