Working with the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the Bush administration is moving ahead with plans to sell public national forest land to big oil and gas companies, as well as private timber firms. The White House plans to sell over 300,000 acres of publicly owned land, generating $800 million.
The states hardest hit will be California (85,500 acres), Idaho (26,200 acres), Colorado (21,500 acres) and Missouri (21,500 acres).
The administration is justifying these sales by claiming that they will generate funds to continue the Secure Rural Schools program, which is scheduled to run out of money in September. In reality, the Bush administration is plundering publicly owned lands on behalf of big business and the land sales will do nothing to seriously alleviate the mounting economic hardships faced by rural America.