The Bush administration’s FY 2007 federal budget includes a proposal to sell off over 300,000 acres of National Forest land and other public land managed by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Hoping to increase revenues, the White House projects raising over $1 billion from the sale of National Forest and BLM public land from California to West Virginia.
The Forest Service has released this draft list of lands proposed for sale, and expects to publish a final list in the Federal Register by the end of February. Congress will begin consideration of the President's FY 2007 Budget Proposal this spring
As you might guess, the proposed land sale has generated heated criticism from environmental interest groups and outdoor enthusiasts. “The Bush administration's proposal to auction off National Forest and other lands is shameful,” said the Sierra Club’s Executive Director Carl Pope in a press release. “These lands not only belong to you and me, but they also belong to future generations, and they should not be sold off to the highest bidder for development. And there is no reason why the world's biggest economic power should have to sell off parkland to make ends meet.”
