BLM Memo Sets Vision For 21st Century Land Grab
A Bureau of Land Management internal draft memo (“Treasured Landscapes — Our Vision, Our Values”) sets a vision for the 21st century. In this vision, an additional 130-140 million acres of land will be designated treasure land, according to BLM’s values. This is “roughly equivalent in size to Colorado and Wyoming combined.” Hundreds of thousands of acres of this land is in Colorado.
The GrandJunctionSentinal.com posted an article today (thanks CompleteColorado.com) that described these ‘monumental’ plans by the Bureau of Land Management.
Broad swaths of western land, equivalent to the size of Colorado and Wyoming combined, should be considered “treasured lands” and managed without regard to state lines or other jurisdictional boundaries, according to an internal Bureau of Land Management document.
A similar article was posted by the Salt Lake Tribune on Aug. 8th in which Rep. Bishop doubts Secretary Salazar really wants to hear from the public regarding BLM use and the same memo, “Treasured Landscapes — Our Vision, Our Values.” is mentioned.
Both articles discussed some aspects of the memo but neither gives a link or download to the actual leaked .pdf file. The Salt Lake Tribune article does say:
Bishop spokeswoman Melissa Subbotin pointed to a leaked Bureau of Land Management memo that discusses future uses for federal lands as evidence that the “listening sessions were for the public, not the secretary.”
Parts of the internal Obama administration document — which Interior downplayed as “brainstorming” — were released by Bishop in February. More pages came into public view this week, but they speak only in general terms of considering 130 million to 140 million acres as “treasured lands.”
While I appreciate the Grand Junction Sentinel and Salt Lake Tribune efforts keeping their government leaked source material confidential, it seems ridiculous considering the leaked government document is happily residing on a house.gov server under the directory of robbishop. Coincidence that Rep. Bishop’s first name is Rob? I think not.
link to BLM memo on government server.
In case Robbi closes up shop and the link goes dead, the Bureau of Land Management Treasured Landscape .pdf memo can also be downloaded.
How might the BLM vision affect Colorado? According to the memo the following areas under consideration in Colorado are the Alpine Triangle, Vermillion Basin, Dolores River Basin, and Hidden Gems areas. The memo also specifically mentions that the Hidden Gems, CO area is in Rep. Polis’s and Salazar’s districts.
In addition to the land grab the BLM is also asking for….wait for it….more money.
By the year 2015, funding for the Treasured Landscapes would total $398.4 million.
Using some of these funds, the BLM even wishes to purchase land where mining and energy permits are already pending further harming Colorado industries.
The BLM memo also mentioned the 1906 Antiquities Act several times throughout the memo in case Congress didn’t cooperate with their requests. This is one of those acts where the President can automatically designate land with a “stroke of the pen.”
Consider use of the Antiquities Act to set aside new national monuments where there are immediate threats to nationally significant natural or cultural resources on lands deserving NLCS status
While I’ve only had a short time to scan the memo, I already get a sense that this policy will be purely driven on “green” concerns while the energy, mining industries, and local communities concerns given lip service. The statement “managed without regard to state lines or other jurisdictional boundaries” should give every person cause for concern regarding property rights.
If conservationists want the land protected in the best way possible, they would promote private property rights. The best way to conserve land is for a property owner to care for his own land rather than government bureaucrats.
Chuck Moe is a Contributing Author at People’s Press Collective, Your Source for Colorado Politics
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