Take Action on Sale of Public Lands

Submitted by Pass Dems Member James Kraus

THE SITUATION

Remember Woodie Guthrie’s song “This Land is YOUR Land” ?  Well, NO MORE!

Trumps “Big Beautiful Budget Bill that the corrupt, complicit Republican Congress will try jam through by 4th of JULY – is threatening the biggest destruction of OUR public lands ever!  The Republicans want to SELL our collective legacy of millions of acres of Western public land to PRIVATE corporations. One way or the other, this will deny us, WE THE PEOPLE collectively, the use and benefit of this precious land.  Instead of being preserved for generations, as has been the goal and common American understanding about OUR public lands for over 100 years; and instead of protecting clean air, forests, mountains, rivers, wildlife, animals, birds, plants we all love for inspiration and recreation, they plan to sell it for development.

PRIVATIZATION means these lands will be sold off at auction for mining, oil and gas drilling, clear-cutting, and private development, all of which will exclude of all of us, the Public, from the countless places that give the West its special, magical character. Once the land and nature are polluted and degraded from these activities, it can never be recovered or replaced.

BACKGROUND

A CORRUPT SENATOR, MIKE LEE of UTAH has introduced this package of public hatred as part of the “reconciliation” process where the House and Senate need to agree to terms for the budget. The bill mandates the sell–off, over the next five years,  of a minimum 2 to 3 million acres of public lands managed by the Forest Service (think land with forests to be clear-cut) and the Bureau of Land Management (think plains and prairie lands to be drilled and mined).

AMAZINGLY, some areas of land right here and near Cherry Valley, Oak Glen, the Yucaipa ridge, and land adjacent to the Banning bench are among the candidates for the auction block! That means local views, trails, open space, potential for new congestion, and property values could all be impacted.

Map of Lands Being Targeted

ANALYSIS

Why is this plunder of our shared, perpetual legacy going to happen?  Only to generate more short-term revenue to support big tax cuts favoring a very few people who are already BILLIONAIRES. The supposed revenue target is 10 Billion bucks, a PITTANCE compared to the value to all of society, now and for generations to come, from keeping the land PUBLIC and PROTECTED.  (Just one B2 Bomber costs 20% of the “revenue” that they hope to get from the auctions.) Unsurprisingly, the rationale (dressed up in typical MAGA fashion) is that unloading these American Crown jewels to will help alleviate America’s housing problems.

Further, there are many signs this will be a scam favoring “insiders”:

• Existing laws that mandate public input and a review process are stripped away by the bill.
• The bill contains no explicit language or promises that the auctions will carried out using standard Government auction procedures designed to insure fairness. BLM and USFS MAGA allies have total discretion.
• There is no explicit cap that the land sales will stop at 2 to 3 million acres. More than ten times that will be “eligible” for sale; there are only vague assurances that further sales beyond 3 million acres is not the “intent.”
• Initially, the lands to be sold as a priority will be “adjacent to” existing developed areas; but nowhere does the bill define what that means, opening the possibility for all manner of dishonest selections.
• Supposedly, State and local governments will get priority to bid on available land before it is offered to private parties for purchase. But that too, is not in hard language, nor is how much time would be given to State/local authorities to decide, and then to put all the mechanics in place to act.

RECOMMENDED ACTIONS

• Go to the National Parks Conservation Association and fill out the petition.
• Go to The Wilderness Society and fill out their petition, too. Excellent website for further informatio
• Contact your representatives and complain LOUDLY that this entire scheme is theft from the public, and the most corrupt and stupid policy possible; trading away our children’s, grandchildren’s and successive generations’ future to give even more short-term money to the richest elements of our society.

U.S. Senators

Adam Schiff –

Email      Call – 202-224-3841

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Alex Padilla-

 Email    Call (202) 224-2200

 

U.S. Representatives

Dr. Raul Ruiz

Email     Call – (202) 225-5330

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Ken Calvert  (MAGA)

Email    Call – (202) 225-1986

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Jay Obernolte  (Republican)

Email    Call – 202-225-5861

 

Local

Beaumont City Council –

Email: NicoleW@BeaumontCA.gov

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Banning City Council

Email: cityclerks@banningca.gov

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Yucaipa City Council

Email: publiccomment@yucaipa.gov

 Other Resources to check out:

Senators react to federal public land sales proposal

Lawmakers consider selling federal land across 11 states, including Mount Hood and Crater Lake

They Want to Sell the Trails We Love (but we can stop them!)