[From the diaries w/ minor edit -- Hunter]
Richard Pombo (R-CA) has been hired by industry to eviscerate environmental protections in the United States. He is on the verge of a success as only he can define it-Pombo's public land giveaway is buried deep in the House deficit cutting measure that passed 217-215 this week. Drilling in ANWR is a drop of oil in the bucket compared to the damage this could cause.
Congress prohibited patenting a decade ago. WHY ARE THEY BACKTRACKING ON PATENTING OF PUBLIC LAND? Taxpayers and the environment are about to get a major screwing.
From U.S.Newswire a good description of patenting and the "House's Massive Public Lands Giveaway".
The provisions end a decade-long Congressional ban on "patenting" or sale of public lands claimed for mining and creates a new policy of offering vast areas of Western public lands for sale for non-mining uses like real estate development and oil drilling. Under the bill, U.S. and foreign corporations will be able to buy and develop important natural areas now used for recreation, wildlife, fisheries or regional drinking water supplies -- including areas within our National Parks, National Forests, and BLM lands.
UPDATE with sincere gratitude to posters: FAX House and Senate Leadership in Washington, CALL their local and home offices - now is the time! Word has it that if Pombo gets on the House-Senate Committee this beast is a done deal.
More below:
My question- just how much damage can be done by this? After all, there are plenty of activities occuring on public lands. Answer- this is a way to PRIVATIZE PUBLIC LAND. Patenting of public land has made corporations and individuals very wealthy in the past and
taxpayers didn't get a penny. From the LA Times:
There are plenty of examples of how companies have used the 1872 mining law's patenting provisions to get their hands on public resources dirt cheap. In 1970, Frank Melluzzo "patented" -- bought -- public land near Phoenix for $150. Ten years later, he sold it for more than $400,000. Today, the Pointe Hilton Hotel in Phoenix sits on this mining claim. In 1983, Mark Hinton patented national forest land adjacent to the Keystone ski resort in Colorado. He later sold the parcel for more than 4,000 times what he paid for it. In 1994, American Barrick Corp. patented about 1,000 acres of public land in Nevada. That land contained more than $10 billion in gold reserves. But under the 1872 mining law, it paid only $5,000 for the land and paid not a dime in royalties to the federal Treasury.
Who is behind Pombo? The list is so long and obvious, any ballpark guess will probably be right... His family runs a real estate development company and his PAC received a contribution from Abramoff.