Conservationist Randy Newberg calls U.S. public lands "The greatest accumulation of undistributed wealth on the planet." And while I tend to agree with him on most topics, I think I somewhat disagree with the term "undistributed." Because, well, it's our public land. It's been distributed to us.
It may not seem that way, given how vast it all is. But the distribution of said land is to us, the U.S. taxpayer. And I think that's why our current politicians hate the idea of public lands so much. It's not because it's just there and undistributed, theoretically sitting idle (it's not, we all use these lands for recreation nearly every day), but rather because it's ours and not theirs to do what they wish with, i.e. sell off.
So when I hear of politicians, the current U.S. President, or others in business claiming that they're attacking these lands and aiming to sell them all off because it's so mismanaged—which in part it is, and in part their own fault—or give them back to the states to do better things with, I find the whole thing as pure and utter BS.
Criticisms of our management are valid. But that doesn't mean we should sell it all off and strip mine the place, as is the current drumbeat from those politicians. Why can't we fix it? Why can't we better manage it? Oh yeah, because they lack the will, spine, and don't actually want us to enjoy these lands when they can make a buck.
Trump announces he's coming for our forests. They will be sold off.
byu/Shenanie-Probs inMarchAgainstNazis
The latest salvo comes from the Oval Office where President Trump was issuing a hold-off on tariffs on both Mexico and Canada and told reporters that we don't need their lumber, rather, "We don't need their lumber, we have more lumber than they do. We don't need Canada's lumber. So what I'm doing is, I'll be signing an executive order freeing up our forests so we're allowed to take down trees and make a lot of money, and reharvest trees."
He then added, "Also we're cutting fire divides. A fire divide is a 50-yard or 75-yard swath where the trees can't, you know, so the trees don't burn forever or until you can get them out. And those trees can be sold and made a lot of money with."
While fire breaks are good things and help mitigate wildfire spreads throughout the west, those are already being done by wildland fire specialists, as well as the forestry offices throughout the west. The same forestry offices that the current administration is attempting to gut. The same people who manage fires each and every year, and do a ton of ground work to mitigate the potential for wildfires. The same wildfires that are getting worse each and every year, too.
That's true for the avalanche centers that are being cut. The BLM services being cut. The biologists being cut. And every other budgetary cutback that this administration, as well as the last administration, and each of the last few Congressional delegations, have made. Gutting those services and selling off the land doesn't help public lands. It doesn't help the public. It just makes a few rich people even richer, and sells off a resource that isn't theirs to begin with.
Patrick Berry, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers' President, recently put it perfectly, stating, "The concept that our shared resources can be managed in a collaborative and cooperative manner to benefit a multitude of public needs and embody the notion that we’re-all-in-this-together is Americanism at its finest. So how did so many of our elected officials become hellbent on handing over these extraordinary public assets to private interests?"
He added, "Federally owned public lands have long been managed through an Americanist approach that brings a wide variety of stakeholders to the table. These are all of our lands, managed by the feds but not owned by them; We are the public land owners. The public’s recreational opportunities are balanced with resource extraction and other needs, where both private and public interests benefit. The mosaic of public lands across the country play a crucial role in national security, food production, climate change adaptation, and conservation of fish and wildlife habitat. Our natural, cultural, historic, and scenic heritage is firmly founded in a public lands legacy that is fundamentally irreplaceable."
Emphasis mine.
And I want to emphasize that as, again, these are our lands, not those in Washington. They're distributed to us and us alone. So when politicians on both the left or the right begin to mismanage them, as they both have been in recent decades, it's time for us to have the final say in how these resources are managed.
It's time for us to take a stand and protect our public lands, whether you use them to ATV or dirt bike, hunt or fish, backpack or camp, hike or snowmobile. No matter the camp you ascribe to, it's time to come together, put away our differences in how we enjoy these lands, and fight to ensure they're still here for decades to come.
We need better management, not to sell them off.
