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"But let's step back for a nano-second and just ask ourselves what would truly be the baseline in a true compromise? Let's look at the WHOLE pie, as we "received" it (or took it). It seems to me that any reasonable compromise would involve all the parties coming around the table and deciding how much of the U.S. we were all going to work on restoring to the condition in which we found it. After all, under RARE I and RARE II there is less than 2% of the land mass of the lower 48 in any kind of decent condition. Compromise would not split that 2%. It would work on moving back toward 50%. Impossible? Maybe, but never let the enemy define the terms of debate and never let him tell you he is not your enemy until he proves he is not. If you do, you have already lost."
I certainly appreciate your passion for preserving wild lands and public access James Riley. But are you going to step up to the plate and offer your private land up for public ownership as an example of how to get back to the way it was? Most people proposing these types of ideas have a vision of other people offering up their private property not their own.
James,
I have been enjoying your commentary.
Thanks.
.Good to see ya , Shoots, at the Helena public lands rally.
I thought I was done writing letters until I read the Crapo response.
Tough for me to say anything, as my 2 senators here in Wyoming, have repeatedly shown they couldn't care less about hunters, fishermen, and recreation. They vote party line 100% of the time.
But, in "fairness"...they never said they would support sportsmen either. I still don't give them a pass, but if they would have run their campaigns on a promise to sportsmen they would vote a certain way and didn't, they would be hearing from me just about every day.
I would also do everything I could to make sure they were never reelected.
They said that it would be the best thing for Wyoming, meaning of course Wealthy ranchers and their outfitters, Oil & Gas industries and mining.
Sportspeople are on the outside looking in. If this ever goes through, DIY hunting will end. I said it before, The Democrats want your guns and the Republicans want to take away your places to use them. IMO it's tough to tell a donkey from an elephant these days.
I think in the end, this is how I come down: There is an Amendment to the United States Constitution (and hopefully a United States Supreme Court), which protects my RTKABA. Thus, regardless of legislation, laws, and States, I know I have the RTKABA and no one is going to take that away from me even if the Democrats rule the world. I will be an outlaw. So what? I'm in good company, with the criminal founding fathers. Besides, there is a well established infrastructure in place fighting for the RTKABA. Finally, just as lots of Democrats are not chicken hawks, so too many of them hunt.
Public lands protections? Not so much. It's not that the threat against them is any more dire or credible than gun control. Rather, it's the lack of Constitutional protections. Public lands are subject to the tyranny of the majority, and it's a majority that doesn't much care. It's a majority who's one redeeming feature is an unrelated opposition to Republicans. It can be perfectly legal and Constitutional to liquidate our public lands.
April 17, 2015
Mr. X
address...
Dear Mr. X,
Thank you for contacting me to express your opposition to a recent amendment to the Senate budget resolution related to federal lands. As a fifth generation Montanan, please know that I do not support the transfer of federal public lands to state ownership or the sale of public lands that would reduce Montana's access to these lands.
Senate Amendment No. 838, sponsored by Senator Lisa Murkowski (AK), does not sell, transfer, or exchange any federal lands. Such action would require the enactment of separate legislation. With that said, states and local governments and Indian Tribes routinely come to Congress to obtain land transfers or conveyances to be used for economic development or to address checker-boarded estates or split estates, a common problem for communities in Montana. For example, in 2009 Senator Murkowski enacted a transfer of a 206-acre road corridor through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge in exchange for adding 56,000 acres of state and tribal land to the federal estate to facilitate better access for medical evacuations. Unfortunately, the Secretary of Interior continues to block this exchange important to public safety. The Murkowski Amendment could help facilitate a solution to that matter and enable other exchanges, sales or transfers with states or local governments. These policies are often used to craft balanced public lands measures that strengthen conservation, facilitate economic development, and empower states, local and tribal governments.
In fact, these types of exchanges were vital to enacting the 2014 comprehensive lands package, which included the most significant Montana conservation measures in more than 30 years. The North Fork Watershed Protection Act and the Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act protected nearly 700,000 acres in Montana-400,000 acres along the Flathead River in addition to about 270,000 acres along the Rocky Mountain Front, including 67,000 acres of new wilderness. The 2014 lands package was a historic agreement for Montana and would not have occurred without other land exchanges being enacted alongside the landmark conservation measures. For Montana, the package included the Northern Cheyenne Lands Act, which transferred over 1,500 federally-controlled acres into trust for that Tribe. Another example of the kind of land exchange that could be facilitated by the Murkowski Amendment includes a land transfer in 1996 used to prevent a gold mine from being constructed outside of Yellowstone National Park near Cooke City in return for the state of Montana receiving Otter Creek coal tracts.
It is important to note that budget rules threatened the completion of the 2014 lands package. As a result, the Murkowski amendment is designed to safeguard future transfers or exchanges from budgetary hurdles, and to protect the ability of Congress to enact landmark conservation measures like the North Fork Watershed Protection Act and the Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act. As a member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, please know I will keep your concerns in mind should the committee consider related legislation and continue to fight to protect public lands in Montana.
Again, thanks for contacting me. As always, I encourage you to contact my office to express your concerns or opinions on policy issues important to you. It is my number one priority in Congress to represent the values and interests of the people of Montana, and your input is very helpful as I do. I also invite you to visit my website, http://www.daines.senate.gov, so that we can stay in close touch.
Sincerely,
Steve Daines
United States Senator
SD/sm
Please do not reply to this email, as this box is unattended. Instead, please use the contact form on my website if you have any further comments.
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