Goodbye public lands [View all]

[SHRED]

Another scam is brewing for 640 million acres of Federal land.

Here's how it works:

Claim it's worthless (not true).
Give it to the States.
The States can't afford to maintain it so they sell it off to mining, drilling, and logging interests.

Goodbye access for public recreation, goodbye jobs, and hello more environmental destruction and pollution, all for the sake of big business special interests.

It's a terrible deal for us both in losing access, blowing a hole in the Federal budget, and our economy.

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Congress moves to give away national lands, discounting billions in revenue

Though recreation on public lands creates $646bn in economic stimulus and 6.1m jobs, Republicans are setting in motion a giveaway of Americans’ birthright

"Essentially, the revised budget rules deny that federal land has any value at all, allowing the new Congress to sidestep requirements that a bill giving away a piece of federal land does not decrease federal revenue or contribute to the federal debt.

Republican eagerness to cede federal land to local governments for possible sale, mining or development is already moving states to act. Western states, where most federal land is concentrated, are already introducing legislation that pave the way for land transfers."

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/19/bureau-land-management-federal-lease?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Copy_to_clipboard