Let's blow whistle on public lands heist!
GOP faction in Congress seeks huge U.S. public lands giveaway!
"This land is your land,
This land is my land,
From California to the New York island..."
-- Woody Guthrie
It's more than just song lyrics. Much of the American land really does belong to all Americans.
But an influential bloc of militant Republicans in Congress have another idea about that—they recently approved a bill that would sell off some of our wildest and most beautiful public forests, waters, and wildlife habitat to the states.
They must be stopped! Take action today to prevent this enormous ripoff of public lands!
But H.R. 3650, authored by Rep. Don Young (R-AK), would hand over millions of acres of our national forests to states, who in turn would likely sell vast amounts of our precious heritage to private resource-extraction industries.
Selling off our public lands makes absolutely no economic sense. The outdoor recreation industry alone, which relies on land access to exist, employs 6.1 million Americans and contributes $650 billion to the economy annually through revenues from camping, climbing, hiking, hunting and fishing, canoeing and other non-consumptive, sustainable uses.
Timber, mining, and energy extraction industries—the likely recipients of the bulk of these lands—would provide a one-time infusion of funds to the selling states, which are mostly disinclined and underequipped to manage the lands properly. Further public access to these lands then would be unlikely at best.
Our public wildlands are the birthright of every American. Help us stop this giveaway of public assets!
Paul Hughes
Executive Director
Forests Forever