Today our current Administration announced the first effort to dispose of public lands that have been under the management of the Federal Government. I alerted you to the fact that this was an effort that was a part of the Republican party platform prepared in 2016. The announcement will shrink the size of two national monuments and open the remaining lands to private development for activities such as mining, grazing, timber harvesting and oil and gas exploration. So what?
I know there are many that believe transferring programs to local governments is a good idea but, the decision is far more complicated! First, the public lands currently managed by the Department of Agriculture and Interior are national treasures which belong to the American citizens. I can assure you these lands are critical to the sustenance of life on our planet. States simply do not have the resources to manage these valuable lands nor can they tax their constitutes enough to do the job. The populations of the various States varies from 570,000 to almost 40 million and the cost of these national issues will bankrupt most of our individual States. Certainly, spreading the costs over 330,000,000 people is the only fair method of solving major national problems.
The outcome is obvious, these lands will disappear into private holdings and be lost to the American Public. This is just the first step, so stay alert! You need to get your thoughts to the decision-makers!
I know there are many that believe transferring programs to local governments is a good idea but, the decision is far more complicated! First, the public lands currently managed by the Department of Agriculture and Interior are national treasures which belong to the American citizens. I can assure you these lands are critical to the sustenance of life on our planet. States simply do not have the resources to manage these valuable lands nor can they tax their constitutes enough to do the job. The populations of the various States varies from 570,000 to almost 40 million and the cost of these national issues will bankrupt most of our individual States. Certainly, spreading the costs over 330,000,000 people is the only fair method of solving major national problems.
The outcome is obvious, these lands will disappear into private holdings and be lost to the American Public. This is just the first step, so stay alert! You need to get your thoughts to the decision-makers!