The efforts by the Greens, the US Congress and the Administration to continue locking up the American land proceed non-stop. Today the House “easily approved” three more Wilderness bills.
* Tom Udall’s (D-NM) HR 2632 created 16,000 acres of new Wilderness in n.e. NM.
* Jim Costa (D-CA) and Devin Nunes (R?-CA) were able to add 113,500 acres of new Wilderness in two areas in the southern Sierra with HR 3022.
* Mary Bono’s (R?-CA) HR 3682 created 41,000 additional acres of Wilderness in four areas, and just for good measure created 31 miles of new Wild & Scenic Rivers.
“And the beat goes on.”
Previously the House had approved new Wilderness bills for Oregon and West Virginia and recently the Senate’s omnibus multi-bill land grab package created the long-delayed Washington state Wild Sky Wilderness. Bush quickly signed that omnibus monstrosity.
The gates are wide open for all these land grabs with no more than a handful of Republicans strongly fighting them. And of course purported Republicans are dropping their own Federal land grab bills left and right. Even the efforts of such strict Constitutionalists and pro-property rights Congressmen as Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) to simply demand that there be recorded roll call votes on these land grabs and lock-ups have met resistance from Republican leaders. A new form of stealth bomber — bombing the American people under suspension of the rules, with practically no debate, no amendments and an unrecorded voice vote.
At the rate that private lands and resources are being acquired by Fed, state, county and local governments — and much more private land regulated or tied up in Bush administration “partnerships,” perpetual conservation easements, and “cooperative” conservation agreements — and the government lands then locked up in non-use Wilderness or quasi-Wilderness areas — America is already on its way to becoming a Third World country. Then Congress won’t have to bother to pass Climate Control legislation because there won’t be much economic activitiy to control.
