Here we go. Land transfers on Mt Hood National Forest

[miah66]

https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-con ... ll/699?r=3

And that's not all.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-con ... e-bill/621

Edit: Mt Hood land transfer is an exchange that had been in the works for some time.

https://walden.house.gov/media-center/p ... hange-bill

[Koda]

For those of you who might be uncertain what it means to transfer our (your) public lands to state control I thought I’d write up a short summary with a practical example of how this works.

Federal lands are owned by the public, you and I, and cannot be sold. State lands are owned by the individual residents of that state, but there are no protections from state lands to prevent them from being sold to generate profit, or make up for financial shortfalls of the state. This happens all the time currently in Oregon the entire Eliot State forest is being considered for sale.

Typically the only people wealthy enough to buy up such large tracts of lands are corporations, typically for logging. Once sold they can close all access to the public at any time. Some sales include a provision requiring the buyer to provide recreational access of some form, but this is not regulated beyond that.

Using Oregon as an example, lets look at what private land recreational access means to you and I…

Here is a screenshot of Wayerhouser lands available for public recreation, notice the price tags...

(click on the pictures for a larger view)

To give a sense of scale of the amount of lands that Wayerhouser owns here is a zoom in of just one area of Oregon. In just the NW corner of Oregon, they own (and control access) to formerly public lands roughly the same size as the entire Clatsop State forest. Thats an entire state forest size that you no longer have rights to access...

And this is just for the Wayerhouser company.

And I don’t have time to even address the wildlife, ecosystem and environmental concerns and impact other than to say that those decisions are based solely on providing financial profits for the land owner.

here is a web link to see for yourself, the amount of formerly public lands that you no longer have access too:
https://www.wyrecreation.com/permits

[miah66]

I think that website is telling. Weyerhauser isn't billing itself as a logging company, but rather as a "Premier Outdoor Recreational Access" company. Wow. The future is a scary place. $250 for motorized access. That NW Forest Pass doesn't look so egregious now, does it?

[Koda]

That NW Forest Pass doesn't look so egregious now, does it?

the NWFP scam pales in comparison. I'd gladly accept and pay the NWFP if it meant permanently preventing the transfer of public lands.

If you look around on that website, some of the prices go up to $300. I haven't looked closer yet how their permit system works, Im assuming its per person and not vehicle and doubt its a year round annual pass.

[Rand Man]

Federal lands are owned by the public, you and I, and cannot be sold.

BLM.gov say yes

Does the Federal Government ever sell public land?

The answer is yes. Lands identified as excess to the public's and Government's needs or more suited to private ownership are sometimes offered for sale. This brochure explains the procedures and where to go for more details.

https://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/more/ ... print.html

[Koda]

Federal lands are owned by the public, you and I, and cannot be sold.

BLM.gov say yes

Does the Federal Government ever sell public land?

The answer is yes. Lands identified as excess to the public's and Government's needs or more suited to private ownership are sometimes offered for sale. This brochure explains the procedures and where to go for more details.

https://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/more/ ... print.html

what about National Forest land?

[Rand Man]

addition to my previous post:

Sale of Federal Land in Deschutes County

The Prineville District Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages 1.6 million acres of public land in central and north-central Oregon. A portion of this land base is configured in small, isolated parcels that generally do not provide significant resource, public, or tribal benefits, and are not cost effective to manage. This sale project involves 5 such parcels that have been identified as suitable for sale in the Upper Deschutes Resource Management Plan and Record of Decision dated September 2005. The project is considered to be consistent with the objectives, goals, and decisions of the land use plan.

https://www.blm.gov/or/districts/prinev ... /fltfa.php

[Rand Man]

what about National Forest land?

Isn't there a long history of cyclic land exchanges between logging companies and the USFS?

Does the Forest Service sell property?

The Forest Service has very limited authority to sell National Forest System lands. Most authorities allowing the sale of lands have specific criteria or identify only a small number of properties for sale in a limited geographical area. The tool used most often for conveyance of lands within National Forest boundaries is land exchange.

https://www.fs.fed.us/land/staff/disposal.shtml

[Koda]

Isn't there a long history of cyclic land exchanges between logging companies and the USFS?

as far as I know no. The logging companies get permits to log on federal lands. I imagine they may have some authority to close off areas during active logging.


before we get too distracted by a side topic, but my guess is small limited parcel sales are not of the same impact as whole land transfers to a new authority....?

[Rand Man]

History of land exchanges:

http://www.wildwilderness.org/aasg/landexch.htm

http://old.seattletimes.com/special/lan ... 00198.html

https://www.google.com/#q=government+we ... d+exchange

http://old.seattletimes.com/special/landswap/