I don't normally make political messages, but this is something I feel needs to be shared. Some of the wildest, most amazing landscapes in the western US - 250 million acres of undeveloped public land in America, are proposed to be sold off in the Senate Reconciliation Bill (Bureau of Land Management Land, And National Forest Land) to fund the proposed budget. Much of this is land with few local residents and few visitors, so it is easily forgotten. Remote, unrepresented areas are being targeted. We need to write our representatives to amend this bill and strip out these land sales.
This land is our birthright, and consists of places of full of biodiversity, stunning beauty, indigenous history, deep cultural significance, and fresh air. It will be rapidly and irreversibly sold off to the rich and companies with deep pockets. Best case - we are kept off this land or need to pay to access land beyond it. Worse case - devastating resource extraction (hello Alaska). Not to mention the roads needed to access this sold property, which will need to go through existing private and public lands, fences that inhibit wildlife movements, access cut off to remaining public land, and pollutants from mined areas flowing into outside watersheds. Either case - American west changes forever for us and our future generations.
In the United States, public lands are areas of land and water collectively owned by the American public and managed by government agencies. These lands are intended for the use and enjoyment of all citizens and serve various purposes, including conservation, recreation, and resource extraction. They are distinct from private lands, which are owned by individuals or non-governmental organizations.
We need to protect your ability to go hiking, camping, hunting, fishing, backpacking, skiing, snowboarding, mountain biking, bird watching, RVing, offroading, rock climbing, photographing, surfing, swimming, whitewater rafting, canyoneering, etc. in the states of Utah, Idaho, Oregon, Colorado, California, Nevada, Washington, Arizona, New Mexico, and Alaska. Not to mention lands where cattle grazing has been permitted for decades, established migratory routes, etc. All sold out from under us.
Map of land for sale:
https://www.arcgis.com/apps/instant/basic/index.html?appid=821970f0212d46d7aa854718aac42310Write your senators:
https://act.wilderness.org/a/senaterec-june25-webHelp the fight:
https://www.wilderness.org/articles/blog/congress-making-more-250-million-acres-public-lands-available-saleVideos of the areas we are losing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKvCrSR2AOMA few samples of what is for sale:
Pacific NW
- The national forests along the Cascades from Medford to the US border with Canada, and along the Rockies from Spokane, through Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico
- National forests along the coastal range
- Most of the land South and East of Bend
- Areas of the Olympic National Forest
Alaska:
- Most of the southwest Inside Passage west and south of Glacier Bay National Park
- The national forest SE of Anchorage
- Large portions of Interior and Southwest Alaska
- Most of Far North Alaska - artic national refuge
California
- Large portions of the national forests and wildlife refuges in the Coastal Range from Oregon to Mexico
- Large portions of the Cascades and Sierra Nevada Mountains including cutting off Mono Lake and selling old growth forests of redwoods
Idaho
- Easily half of its national forests, parks, and public lands - including Sawtooth mountains, Salmon Chalice forests, hot springs
Interior
- The foothills of the Grand Tetons including the access canyon used to access them
- Most of the deserts and national parks in Nevada, Utah
- The Prescott National Forest north of Phoenix and lands surrounding the Grand Canyon
- Most of the Apache, Carson, Rio Grande, Sanisabel national forests from New Mexico to Wyoming
- The lands around the Bighorn Mountains
- Colorado River watershed
- Back country of Zion national park, the lands around Moab, and around many other national parks
- Entire mountains west of Denver
Nothing in Montana - more public land than any of the other western states. Politicians there strongly said no land is for sale
