your favorite trout rivers might be sold

December 10, 2005
Salt Lake Tribune (UT)
By John H. Weis

The budget reconciliation bill that recently passed the House of
Representatives by a two-vote margin is set to go into a House-Senate
conference committee. It is a gargantuan bill containing language
required to keep the government in business.

Buried in the 680-page document is a section championed by Rep. Richard
Pombo of California designed to sell off public lands to private
interests. Fresh from his House victory gutting the Endangered Species
Act, Pombo has set his sights on privatizing public lands. And if Pombo
has his way, Forest Service employees could be trading in their green
parkas for the gold jackets of real estate agents.

The onerous provisions in this bill will turn over to private parties
potentially millions of acres of our national forests and public lands
for condos, summer homes and other development. As written, the gutting
of public lands would follow this course:

First, mining interests (and private developers) could stake mining
claims on public lands and then buy the lands starting at $1,000 per
acre. In Utah, this would initially be about 367,000 acres, but could
later be expanded to nearly 10 times that amount (about 3.27 million
acres).

Second, after any mineral removal (or measly attempt thereof), the new
owners could then either develop the land themselves or simply sell it
to the highest bidder. There would be no restrictions since it would
now be private land. Nor would there be any guarantee of access across
these now-private lands to adjacent public lands. This outcome would
deprive millions of Americans of the right to hike, camp, hunt and fish
on lands that are now in the public trust.

The citizens of Utah are remarkably lucky to live in a state with such
vast public lands. It is no wonder that mining interests and developers
(most of which are simply large international conglomerates) would love
to get their hands in the public-lands cookie jar. However, public
lands are just that, to be held in stewardship by the appropriate
federal agency for the use of all citizens, not just those who can
afford a second home on 160 acres.

This bill is a kick in the crotch to every individual who has hiked or
hunted, cast a fly to rising trout, or camped under a canopy of pines
on Bureau of Land Management and National Forest lands. It is critical
that Utah House and Senate members hear from the citizens of Utah that
we reject Pombo's attempt to sell out our public lands.

If Rep. Pombo gets his way, the revocation of public lands to private
interests will be forever. The citizens of this state and country will
lose more valuable wintering ranges for elk and deer, will be barred
from fishing in newly privatized streams and rivers and will lose
hiking and camping access to public lands hidden behind these
developments.

Why should we lose such rare and priceless privileges just to further
enrich Pombo's land development cronies?


John H. Weis is a member of the Stonefly Society of the Wasatch, Utah's
oldest Trout Unlimited chapter.