With recent events in Oregon, and State Senator (and CEO of the Utah-based American Lands Council) Jennifer Fielder’s continuing push, Montana’s public lands are again in the crosshairs. Ominously, Republican presidential candidates are advocating turning over public lands to private interests as well. While Fielder and her cronies (large corporate groups) are selling this as local control, the ultimate goal is privatization.
If you think privatization is good for you personally, take a minute and think. Will you be buying acreage when it goes on the market? Not likely! It will be people like Ted Turner (already owns about two million acres), Koch Industries, George Soros, and other extremely wealthy people and corporations.
Federal management shortcomings are mainly due to lack of funding from Washington, a problem easily cured. If you think USFS management is poor, consider the Anaconda Company, Champion, and Plum Creek. They liquidated their holdings for shareholder profits and have left, or are leaving. Are there too many controls on mining? Hardly! What this industry has given Montana is a legacy of Superfund sites, paid in perpetuity by taxpayers.
Public lands make us free. Free to hike, hunt, fish, or just get away from it all. The only people who feel “oppressed” by these lands are those who desire to “rape and pillage” them for personal or corporate profit. Getting rid of public lands will result in common, everyday citizens being serfs in their own country.
Oddly, hunters and many fishermen are often conservative in their political orientation. But, voting Republican in the next election is tantamount to “cutting off your nose to spite your face.” With the elections looming, please consider your priorities and don’t let ideology determine your vote. With a Republican Congress matched by a Republican president, our public lands are in serious danger.
Michael Koeppen
Florence