MIKE STARK Billings Gazette | Posted: Tuesday, March 21, 2006 12:00 am
BILLINGS, Mont. - Selling off Bureau of Land Management property to help cover the nation's debts is a misguided and short-sighted idea, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., and members of the public said Monday in Billings.
Baucus hosted a public meeting at Montana State University-Billings to get input and rally opposition to the BLM proposal.
"I think it's outrageous for the United States government to sell public lands, pure and simple," Baucus said.
Proposals to sell BLM and U.S. Forest Service land are still alive in Washington, D.C., and Westerners need to stand up and speak against them, he said.
The Bush administration's Forest Service proposal would allow about 300,000 acres to be sold to help provide funding for rural schools. A list has already been drawn up for acres that could be put on the sale block.
The proposal for BLM is hazier. Over the next five years, about $80 million in BLM land would be sold, and about $350 million would be sold over the next 10 years, Baucus said.
No specifics have been made public about which BLM land might be sold and whether any of the parcels would be in Montana.
"I think it's intentionally vague to slip under the radar," Baucus said.
Profits from any BLM land sold would be deposited in the federal treasury and used to alleviate the national debt, he said.
The BLM owns about 8 million acres in Montana, which provides land for livestock grazing, hunting, fishing, hiking and other activities.
Those speaking at Monday's meeting said selling off BLM land would mean a loss of jobs, loss of revenue for local counties and loss of access for hunting, fishing and other recreation.
"In many places, we're the envy of the world to have these public lands," said John Gibson, a former U.S. Forest Service employee. "I don't think anyone, unless you're a developer, should be in favor of this."
For every acre lost in a BLM sale, Carbon County could lose $1,000, said John Prinkki, a Carbon County commissioner.
"The Carbon County commissioners see this as a very short-sighted approach," Prinkki said. "From a business standpoint, you just don't sell off your assets."
Hunters and anglers have already been squeezed out of access as more ranches and other lands have changed hands in recent years, said Dan Vermillion, a hunter from Livingston.
"These days, more and more of our recreation is done on public lands," said Vermillion, who said the public will have to be vigilant in opposing the BLM proposal.
Laurel veterinarian Don Woerner said he has seen more and more land be bought up by private interests that don't provide public access for hunting and fishing in recent years. He said he feels "betrayed" by any plan to sell public land in Montana.
"If it does happen, the only way I'm going to go bird hunting is to get an invitation from the vice president," Woerner quipped, "and I don't know if I want to do that."
Dealing away public lands in Montana might forever change the nature of the state and its heritage, said Don Seibert, who worked for the BLM for 30 years before retiring.
"Once these are gone, we are not going to get them back," Seibert said.
Baucus urged the public to contact members of Congress to oppose the BLM and Forest Service proposals.