Jimbo
December 9th, 2005, 07:17 AM
Yes, *the* Rock Creek, world famous. Apparently some people in
congress sliped in a hidden bill that will sell off millions of acres
of national forests. Rock creek is on the list.
http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=9409
"Outrage over the bill has risen to fever pitch in Montana, where U.S.
Sen. Max Baucus, a Democrat, is leading the call to squelch the mining
measure. "It's an abominable idea," he said in an interview Tuesday.
"Our public lands are for the public."
Backers of the measure say it would authorize at most 360,000 acres for
sale, funneling roughly $158 million into depleted federal coffers.
Opponents say wording in the bill opens for sale millions of acres
across the West, including some of the West's most prized landscapes.
A case in point in western Montana is Rock Creek, a blue-ribbon trout
stream that draws tens of thousands each year to recreate in an area
made famous for its abundance of cutthroat, elk, bighorn sheep and
mountain goats.
The recreation site also is home to more than 3,700 mining claims, all
of which could be sold, if the measure becomes law.
Walter Lore, who lives near Rock Creek and has been fishing and hunting
there for years, said closing access to any part of the area would make
Montanans "big-time upset. We might have a civil war."
congress sliped in a hidden bill that will sell off millions of acres
of national forests. Rock creek is on the list.
http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=9409
"Outrage over the bill has risen to fever pitch in Montana, where U.S.
Sen. Max Baucus, a Democrat, is leading the call to squelch the mining
measure. "It's an abominable idea," he said in an interview Tuesday.
"Our public lands are for the public."
Backers of the measure say it would authorize at most 360,000 acres for
sale, funneling roughly $158 million into depleted federal coffers.
Opponents say wording in the bill opens for sale millions of acres
across the West, including some of the West's most prized landscapes.
A case in point in western Montana is Rock Creek, a blue-ribbon trout
stream that draws tens of thousands each year to recreate in an area
made famous for its abundance of cutthroat, elk, bighorn sheep and
mountain goats.
The recreation site also is home to more than 3,700 mining claims, all
of which could be sold, if the measure becomes law.
Walter Lore, who lives near Rock Creek and has been fishing and hunting
there for years, said closing access to any part of the area would make
Montanans "big-time upset. We might have a civil war."