Back at the beginning of March we learned just what parcels of land the Forest Service had designated in the Great Bush Land Sell-off of 2007 (aka the Rural Schools Initiative renewal). I surfed over to
the Forest Service web page that they've set up for the initiative, and I took the time to figure out just what lands were being sold in my area. The result was a letter I sent out to Democrats in the area.
I received a wonderful e-mail from my State Senator - Colorado Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald - just yesterday:
We passed a resolution on this last week and I used the info you gave me on specific areas to be sold. The resolution was sent to Congress and the President.
More below the fold.
The resolution is
House Joint Resolution 06-1018 (HJR06-1018) (PDF).
Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the Sixty-fifth General Assembly of the State of Colorado, the Senate concurring herein:
That we, the members of the Colorado General Assembly, hereby urge the United States Forest Service to rescind the proposal for the sale of these lands.
Be It Further Resolved, That copies of this Joint Resolution be sent to the Secretary of the federal Department of Agriculture, the Chief of the United States Forest Service, and to each member of Colorado's delegation to the United States Congress.
Additionally, I received word back from my County Commissioners, who attended the National County Commissioners meeting just after I sent that e-mail, that they had talked to Senators
Wayne Allard and
Ken Salazar and Representative
Mark Udall, and they were
all against this sale!
Finally, portions of my e-mail were worked into a local news/opinion paper. Other papers in the area have picked up the story and run with it as well. We can make a difference! It only takes one person willing to send out the message.
Here's the original e-mail; you might be able to use to activate your local groups and politicians:
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Have you seen the big "For Sale"
sign up at the corner of CO-119 and CO-46?
Neither did I. But the Forest Service has announced its intention to
sell of this and many other parcels of public land. The parcel in
question starts across from Dory Lakes and runs down to and including
the Cold Springs Campground.
What's for Sale?
In our local area, additional lands for sale include: land bordering
the north side of Golden Gate Canyon State Park; lands between Beaver
Creek Rd. and Gap Rd. including Rd. 11A and Damascus; a large
parcel west of Apex Valley Rd. along Mammoth Gulch; and
an inholding off of the Rollins Pass road.
In the surrounding area, some of the lands for sale include: all NFS
lands in the St. Mary's Glacier area; all inholdings around Nederland;
a large chunk of land west of Eldora; chunks of land in Boulder
Canyon and along Sugarloaf Road; large portions of Magnolia
Road; other lands in North Boulder County, including along the Peak-to-Peak
Highway and Left Hand Canyon; all of the lower part of Mt.
Evans Road; all Forest Service frontage from Idaho Springs
to Georgetown.
Further out, large sections in the Pawnee National Grasslands
are being sold, land in the scenic Columbia River Gorge is for
sale, land bordering the already-embattled Smoky Mountain National
Park is up for grabs!
What Can I Do?
First, pass on this information to anyone and everyone you know
who is interested in protecting our National Forest lands and/or our
mountain way of living. If you're outside of Gilpin County, do a bit
of research and include your own local land sales in your e-mails, blog
posts, and other communications.
Second, submit your comments to the Forest Service. Until
March 30, 2006, the Forest Service is accepting comments at SRS_Land_Sales@fs.fed.us.
Third, contact your representatives. Contact Congressmen,
Senators, the Governor and even State Legislators and County
Commissioners. They all have an interest in the way the Federal
government administers our public lands. If we can generate enough
interest at the Federal level, the entire sale might get canceled.
Fourth, write letters to the editor. Make sure everyone knows
just how bad this sale is. Include particularly egregious examples
(like selling the Cold Springs Campground, or the national examples I
mentioned above...) in your letters to drive home your point.
Where Can I Find Out More?
The "Secure Rural Schools" Initiative FY2007 website at the NFS has
good information on the land sale: http://www.fs.fed.us/land/staff/rural_schools.shtml.
As you might guess from the title, the proposal for the sale of these
approximately 300,000 acres of land (estimated worth of $250 million)
is supposed to fund rural school programs. The funding for this
initiative has somehow magically disappeared from the FY2007 budget and
the President has replaced budgetary funding with this one-time sale;
this is fiscally irresponsible to our nation and to the long-term
support of our rural schools.
Please take action today! We have
a limited amount of time to prevent this massive sell-off of our public
lands.