Home » all category posts » USA » USA: Domestic Issues

Large Sale of U.S. Forest Land Planned


Janet Wilson | Los Angeles | February 11

LA Times - The Bush administration Friday laid out plans to sell off more than $1 billion in public lands over the next decade, including 85,000 acres of national forest land in California.

Most of the proceeds would help pay for rural schools and roads, making up for a federal subsidy that has been eliminated from President Bush's 2007 budget.

Congress must approve the plans, which several experts said would amount to the largest land sale of its kind since President Theodore Roosevelt established the U.S. Forest Service in 1905 and created the modern national forest system.

Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, said continued funding for rural roads and schools should come from the general fund, not public land sales.

"The administration found billions to fund subsidies for energy company boondoggles, so I have trouble believing they couldn't find the money in this budget environment to maintain support for rural Oregon counties," he said in a statement.

VIRGINIA COVERAGE

U.S. may sell some Virginia forest



Rex Springston | February 11 | Richmond, VA

Richmond Times-Dispatch - The Bush administration is proposing to sell about 5,700 acres of the George Washington & Jefferson National Forests in western Virginia.

The proposal is part of an overall plan to sell approximately 200,000 acres of national forest for about $800 million.

The proposed sales are linked to plans to eliminate, or scale back, a national program that pays 32 Virginia counties about $900,000 yearly.

Outline on the USDA Forest Service Site and see here how much land, where it's located, and is up for proposed for sale in your state. This isn't an acre here or an acre there. This is a lot of land.


Silent Autumn February 11, 2006 - 11:52am
printer friendly version | digg
( categories: AgonistWire | USA: Domestic Issues )

In the news in other states

Idaho Statesman - Idaho's congressional delegation offered no support Friday for a Bush administration plan to sell up to 200,000 acres of national forest land, including 26,194 acres in Idaho.

Kentucky Courier-Journal - The U.S. Forest Service wants to sell 4,500 acres in the Daniel Boone National Forest.

St. Louis Post Dispatch - The Bush administration today proposed selling as much as 21,566 acres of Mark Twain National Forest as part of national effort to pay for rural schools.

Missouri ranks fourth in acreage identified for sale behind California (85,000), Idaho (26,000) and Colorado (21,572).

Reno Gazette Journal - In Nevada, 30 plots comprising nearly 2,800 acres of Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest are being considered for sale, including more than 900 acres off the Mount Rose Highway. Other targeted parcels are in Douglas County near Holbrook Junction, Topaz Lake, Jacks Valley and the Indian Hills and near Carson City.">

Utah Salt Lake Tribune - The U.S. Forest Service on Friday identified 5,398 acres of land it manages in Utah for potential sale as part of a Bush administration plan to reimburse states for money lost due to lower timber harvests on federal lands.

   National forest property in Weber, Cache, Morgan and Utah counties as well as in central and southern Utah, could be sold under the proposal, which still must be approved by Congress.

West Virginia Charleston Gazette - The U.S. Forest Service is proposing to sell more than 250,000 acres of national forest land, including 4,836 acres in West Virginia's Monongahela National Forest, to pay for reauthorizing a law that provides extra funding for schools and roads in counties in which national forests are located.

Since 1908, 25 percent of revenues from Forest Service timber sales, grazing fees and mineral leases have been returned to counties encompassing national forest property.

Silent Autumn February 11, 2006 - 1:31pm
login to post comments

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.