Relax, Everything is Going to be Okay!

[Irrelevant]

The last half of them.

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what's ridiculous is that the Wenatchee-Okanogan NF project is the final phase of a 30,000 ac consolidation project spearheaded by TNC, it's already been transferred to the feds, but now we're going to backout?

Land and Water Conservation Funds Enables Permanent Protection of Washington’s Central Cascades Forest

After a decade-long conservation effort, 30,000 acres of private “checkerboard” lands in the Central Cascades Forest, receive permanent protection through federal investments.

www.nature.org

 

[Big Fin]

Some significant Montana projects in there. Do you have any indication from Montana's congressional delegates and senators on whether they intend to apply any pressure on this?

I'll know when I get home from DC in April. They have privately indicated they will make sure the Montana projects get done. I guess we will see once the final budget is approved.

 

[Bonasababy]

What you will see IMO is projects from states whose top officials do not piss off Trump will be considered. Those in states that buck any of his plans will not.

 

[jabber]

Ran across this

 

[Carnage2011]

I'm always amazed at the amount of people I here say that. Not saying it's not true, I believe you. Just don't see it much personally.

I can tell you as a business owner…it’s very true.

 

[Vek]

Pretty much. No one should be allowed to determine your or anyone else's ethical or moral values, so we have the law. I would like for blatant lies that could hurt people not be allowed on social media. Core problem is a large % of Americans are dumb and lazy. Can't fix that.

That whole "blatant lies that could hurt people" part...are you the arbiter of that? If not you than who else?

 

[Nick87]

I can tell you as a business owner…it’s very true.

Were probably in totally different fields. I've heard stories of the same.

 

[Carnage2011]

Were probably in totally different fields. I've heard stories of the same.

I should clarify..*majority* is probably inaccurate. Many is probably the right word. I’ve had great employees without much for issues, but usually the showing up on time one is the biggest culprit.

 

[Nick87]

I should clarify..*majority* is probably inaccurate. Many is probably the right word. I’ve had great employees without much for issues, but usually the showing up on time one is the biggest culprit.

One thing that has changed in our industry at least in my experience. In construction you don't typically know what time your working til and if your working weekends or not. When I started years ago if you didn't stay late or didn't want to work Saturday, you would be looking for a job on Monday. Now you have to beg and plead to get guys to do it. Not that it's a bad Thing, but definitely a culture change there from 20 years ago.

 

[Irrelevant]

I'm always amazed at the amount of people I here say that. Not saying it's not true, I believe you. Just don't see it much personally.

we don't see it too much either. There does seem to be a bit more entitlement, but you almost can't blame them, it's been an employee-driven labor market for decades. They've never had to work for work. And I still find almost all of them to be competent hard workers. they just want to come in a 9, and leave at 2 on a friday. Which is fine as long as you get your work done and hrs in. They also want to bring their dog and wear sweat pants (sometimes).

 

[SAJ-99]

That whole "blatant lies that could hurt people" part...are you the arbiter of that? If not you than who else?

Maybe. It depends. Are you Elon Musk? I don’t consider it an official job offer if the answer is no.

 

[Nick87]

we don't see it too much either. There does seem to be a bit more entitlement, but you almost can't blame them, it's been an employee-driven labor market for decades. They've never had to work for work. And I still find almost all of them to be competent hard workers. they just want to come in a 9, and leave at 2 on a friday. Which is fine as long as you get your work done and hrs in. They also want to bring their dog and wear sweat pants (sometimes).

Were way off in the weeds here. One thing I will ad is that a lot of the younger guys haven't seen that employer driven market like some of us have (ages 32 or so and younger maybe). I keep reminding them in our line of work it can get really bad, if your not prepared. Hell, it can be really bad if you ARE prepared. They just kinda shrug it off. I'm not trying to sound like a know it all but there gonna wish they listened some day, unfortunately.

 

[406dn]

I can tell you as a business owner…it’s very true.

I could have guessed as much.

The refinery where I worked was chocked full of good employees. When it is common knowledge that an employer pays really well, with good benefits, yada, yada, they get many dozens of people applying for any opening.

Workers can sense disrespect amazingly well, be it, a supervisor or employer. When they sense it, they return it in kind.

Sorry you can't find good help.

 

[INMT]

Who’s really steering the ship?

 

[jimh406]

Does it matter?

 

[INMT]

GAOA was passed to address maintenance needs, specifically deferred maintenance. This means the funding can only be used on maintaining recreation sites, roads, etc. We can not do capital improvements on current assets, only maintain assets.

It can be used to fund labor that is essential to that maintenance, for instance, an engineers time for designing and overseeing road work or an equipment operators time for operating the grader/backhoe/etc. In addition to this labor we can find limited material or services (think survey equipment).

To my knowledge any other use is prohibited. It was a good funding source, with good side walls, passed during Trump's first term.

I agree. Good funding with sidewalls. I was an ED at a trails non profit that received some GAOA funding from USFS. We used it specifically to fund deferred maintenance that we had a MOU with the forest service to maintain.

It definitely helped us fund work that would not have happened from donations or volunteers.

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

Does it matter?

That's a huge NO. Just matters if its a R or D

 

[INMT]

Does it matter?

If you mean does it matter if an elected president and voted upon cabinet heads, whether R or D @Hilljackoutlaw, vs an unelected billionaire with no actual authority are making the decisions. It does to me.

If you replaced Elon Musk with George Soros, would you be ok with him pulling the strings?

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

If you mean does it matter if an elected president and voted upon cabinet heads, whether R or D @Hilljackoutlaw, vs an unelected billionaire with no actual authority are making the decisions. It does to me.

If you replaced Elon Musk with George Soros, would you be ok with him pulling the strings?

Exactly my point. To the masses it don't matter who the human is..only the R or D part.

 

[dranrab]

That's a good question, and one we are about to find out the answer to in the next year.

The GAOA provide permanent and full funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, LWCF. Those are off-shore oil & gas royalties that fund LWCF.

In addition to the post by @sclancy27 about maintenance uses of LWCF, a portion of LWCF is supposed to be used to increase access and consolidation of inholdings. The list for acquisitions for increasing critical access and consolidation of inholdings has already be approved for 2024, just waiting for Congressional appropriation, something that is supposed to happen before the end of the Federal Fiscal Year of September 30. Since Congress hasn't been able to pass a budget within the appropriate time frames, the Federal Government runs off "continuing resolutions," crafted from a fiscal crisis a few hours before the Federal Government shuts down.

So, with the list approved, the money already collected and earmarked, guess what Senator Lee, R-UT, Chair of the Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee has announced?

He will not approve any budget that includes the "acquisition" projects approved and waiting funding.

End result is we think we have a big victory with the passage of the GAOA. Then someone gives the keys to the public land house to Mike Lee, the biggest anti-public land zealot of all 535 members of Congress. Nobody is will to say boo, shit, or maybe to him. Rather, they give him some rah rah "atta boys."

The list attached hereto is likely not going to get funded. If some Senators push hard enough, the projects in their states might get funded. So rather than govern, Mike Lee gets to gum up the entire works of the GAOA and we will lose all these projects as the owners have private groups standing by with checkbooks ready to act if the Federal funding falls through..

And some of us have to clear our calendars to go to DC for a week to try convince some of the western Senators to push back on Lee. Whether or not they will is anybody's guess. If they won't push back, the GAOA is all for naught; it becomes a joke, another victim of the political bullshit, and further confirmation to my theory that the Republican Party's efforts to liquidate our public lands is the same as the Democratic Party's effort to take my guns. No difference, just two different sides of the elected officials who want to bullshit us and ask us to not hold them accountable for their dereliction of duty.

Fortunately, one of those two important issues has a 2nd Amendment, the Constitution, and the Courts as my defense. The other issue is left to the citizens to fight off the well-funded privateers, a struggle that is has the Congressional sympathizers like Mike Lee in the corner of the anti-public land movement.

Attached is the list if anyone wants to see the projects, years in the making, going down the tubes if none of the Republican senators are willing to stand up to Mike Lee. Total is 206,000 acres, either via purchase or easements, that would solve a lot of access and inholding problems, for $185 million, or 20% of the total money collected and earmarked for LWCF under the GAOA.

So to answer the question quoted above, "We're gonna soon find out if the Great American Outdoors Act was a back door route for Trump to achieve his privatization goals?" And right now, Mike Lee and the anti-public land sympathizers in Congress hold are hell bent on making the answer to that question be, "YES."

Thanks for the info, that's interesting. The act was passed overwhelmingly by both parties and president Trump. Did they pass it for appearances sake knowing full well they'd scuttle it or allow it to be scuttled later? What motivation would Trump have for supporting it if he is really against it?