by Ken Midkiff, Chapter Conservation Chair
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The Bush Administration’s proposal to sell off several hundred thousand (at various times ranging from 150,000 to 300,000) acres of national forest lands is a difficult sell to his base. Even such stalwart Bush-supporters as Kit Bond, Jim Talent, and Joanne Emerson have expressed concerns or even outright opposition. Representatives Blunt and Hulshof have been coy, but it is telling that they haven’t taken a public position.
The National Sierra Club and the Ozark Chapter have NOT been coy: We are adamantly and assertively OPPOSED to this rather naïve proposal.
In states other than Missouri, outright opposition by U.S. Senators and Representatives has been expressed—even in states such as Idaho where, as best can be determined, no tracts of public lands were on the auction block, U.S. Senators Larry Craig and Dewey Crapo have stated they’re opposed.
Why? Well, for one thing it is just a really bad economic idea. To sell off 21,566 acres of public lands in Missouri to benefit rural schools in Oregon doesn’t set real well with those who look out for the interests of their constituents. As it is now, local counties in Missouri receive considerable amounts of money from the Mark Twain National Forest. Contrary to claims by Bush, there are “PILT” (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) funds that swell local larders. In addition, local counties obtain considerable percentages of profit from timber sales and mining royalties collected by the Forest Service from public lands located in the counties.
But, the sale of public lands isn’t tied to the counties in which the lands are located. Rather the proceeds of the sales would go into the U.S. Treasury and then would go to rural school districts that are in dire financial straits. If lands are sold in Shannon County, it is likely that Winona or Eminence school districts wouldn’t see a dime. This is instead a one-time windfall for rural school districts in the Pacific Northwest. Once this windfall is spent, that’s it. No more PILT, no more percentage of profits.
If this dumb idea should come to fruition (which doesn’t seem very likely at this point), a horrible precedent would be set: Any time the federal treasury can’t pay for something, just unload a few thousand acres of public lands. What’s next? More National Forest Lands? National Parks? National Monuments? BLM lands? This whole notion makes little sense when it is realized that one reason the national money pit is do empty is that rich folks get tax breaks.
This is also a bad idea in terms of reducing access to public lands. This affects everyone: hikers, mushroom gatherers, hunters, anglers and solitude seekers. Right now, there is less than five percent of Missouri’s total acreage in public ownership. That’s everything. State lands—Conservation, State Parks, University of Missouri—and all federal lands—national forests, wildlife refuges, and national monuments.
That means that over 95 percent of the lands in Missouri are in private ownership, and most private owners don’t allow public access. It is always gratifying to see those “Welcome” signs at the boundaries of the Mark Twain National Forest. No locking out the public. To the contrary, all are welcome to enter.
There is little doubt that isolated tracts of national forest lands are difficult to manage. The Cedar Creek District of the Mark Twain National Forest has its headquarters in Fulton. To get from Fulton to public lands in Boone County involves a distance of about 50 miles one way and a trip on I-70 or YY. But, the public lands in Boone County—some of which are proposed for sale—are highly valued by folks in that urbanizing county.
Fragmentation is the name of the game in the Mark Twain National Forest. Most of the lands were acquired by the federal government after being clearcut and abandoned in the early 1900s. Other lands were donated. Yet others were purchased via a “willing seller/willing buyer” arrangement, with real estate agents, attorneys and the like. All of this means there are very few large blocks of land in the Mark Twain.
 View of Public Lands for Sale in Missouri (download map overlay for Google Earth - 4.2 MB, get Google Earth software) |
The lands in Callaway and Boone County are examples of this. With the notable exception of the National Forest lands in and around the Pine Ridge Campground, most of the 15,000 acres of the Cedar Creek District are fragmented and isolated. No doubt these are difficult to manage. Consolidations through land swaps are relatively common and generally speaking the Ozark Chapter of the Sierra Club has not opposed value-for-value trades that consolidated National Forest lands. But, once the lands are sold, the public value for such trades is lost—forever.
Finally, and foremost for environmental, conservation, and hunter/angler groups the public lands are valuable for wildlife resources. The public lands are havens for deer, turkey, bobcat, and other deep-woods denizens. Some public lands are thick with wildflowers. Such could occur on private lands, but most owners of private lands try to do things that are profitable. There’s not much profit in deer, turkey, or wildflowers—and these things don’t do well in subdivisions or clearcuts.
The rural school districts in the Pacific Northwest are in dire straits. No doubt some financial aid is needed. But selling off the public lands is NOT the way to help them.
It is hoped that this really stupid idea will be placed on the shelf where it will gather dust for years. Better to gather dust than to sell off our nation’s valued resources.