by Larry Barnes, Victor
Like many Americans, I was deeply alarmed by the news coming out of Washington DC a few days ago that the House of Representatives proposed selling off nearly half a million acres of our public land to private developers. Some tried to claim this was to raise revenue for the federal budget, but it was nothing more than a play by extremists to put our public lands and Western way of life into the hands of private companies and billionaires. I’m grateful that Reps. Zinke and Downing got that provision removed from the House bill.
But outright land sell-off isn’t my only concern. As the Senate debates the federal budget, Sens. Daines and Sheehy need to protect public lands, not just by following our representatives’ lead and preventing outright sell-off of public lands but also by ensuring private companies continue to pay their fair share to develop our public resources. Rolling back federal royalty rates on oil and gas production to what they were in 1920 not only robs taxpayers of fair compensation from private companies, but it also won’t increase revenue: that’s just basic math. Mandating massive lease sales won’t guarantee returns, but it will put our public lands on a silver platter for private industry and billionaires.
Selling out and selling off public lands has no place in the federal budget. Sens. Daines and Sheehy, please protect our public resources. Don’t hand them over to billionaires.