Stand for Our Public Lands
Photo: Petitt
Our American public lands are generational wealth, held in trust for future generations. Our National Parks, National Forests, and rangelands managed by the Bureau of Land Management belong to every American. The rivers that make Idaho special run through public lands. Our access to water, for floating, fishing, and drinking, is dependent on public lands. And make no mistake – we profit from these lands. American public lands drive a $7.8 billion outdoor recreation economy in Idaho alone. The Bureau of Land Management costs $1.6 billion to run but returns $262 billion in economic output annually. In Idaho, public lands support 78,000 jobs and generate $2.5 billion in wages.
On April 8th, our own Rep. Mike Simpson, R-ID, took a powerful stand for public lands. Rep. Simpson signed on as a co-sponsor of H.R.718 - Public Lands in Public Hands Act. This bipartisan bill would prevent the outright sale of our national forests and public lands while still allowing for small-scale, common-sense sales or trades that benefit taxpayers. We owe Rep. Simpson a thank you for his leadership and commitment to protecting the lands we use and love.
Unfortunately, Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo and Idaho Sen. James Risch took a vote against public lands this week. When faced with a budget amendment that would have prevented our public lands from being sold off during budget reconciliation, both Crapo and Risch voted no. The amendment failed, 48-51, leaving our public lands vulnerable to sale during budget negotiations. Our public lands are in jeopardy directly because of the antipublic land votes of Sen. Risch and Sen. Crapo.
Even with champions like Rep. Simpson working to protect our public lands, the threat remains. Many in congress are still supportive of selling public land during the 2025 budget reconciliation process. The selfish interests working to sell public lands do not care about cutting costs. They want our lands for their profit.
Several weeks ago, Crapo publicly floated the idea of transferring public lands to the states. Besides the obvious folly of giving away an American asset, states have shown time and time again that they will sell public lands and have no obligation to allow public use. Idaho has sold more than 40 percent of the lands granted to us at statehood. Transfer is sale. More importantly, these proponents ignore the fact that Idaho swore in 1890 with the signing of our state constitution, “the people of the state of Idaho do agree and declare, that we forever disclaim all right and title to the unappropriated public lands lying within the boundaries thereof.”
Our public lands are more than just economic consideration. Selling our public lands – for any reason – would be more than squandering an American asset, it would be a betrayal of our future. The public lands that your children and my children will inherit and pass on to their children are not a commodity for sale by a short-sighted congress. Our national forests, parks and public lands are not an asset to be sold or leveraged for the benefit of corporations or billionaires.
Public lands are where we hunt. Our public lands are where we fish. Public lands are where we hike and raft and bike and cut firewood. Our public lands are not just where we fill our freezers with elk and salmon, but where we fill our souls.
“Do not let selfish men or greedy interests skin your country of its beauty, its riches or its romance.”
The selfish interests that Teddy Roosevelt talked about 100 years ago are alive and emboldened. They have been busy gutting the United States Forest Service and the Bureau of Lands Management.
The men and women of the BLM and US Forest Service and other land management agencies who fight our fires, who maintain our trails and who manage our public lands are not a drag on our economy. They are hard-working Idahoans who drive that $7.8 billion-dollar outdoor economy. They are our friends and our neighbors.
The goal of the selfish interests running down our public lands is not just to dismantle the Forest Service. Their goal is to devalue our public lands, so they can sell them. The billionaires and corporations want to get a bargain when they try to buy our American birthright.
Their end goal is simple. They want our forests, our lands, our rivers. They want the places held in trust for all Americans. They want to make our public land, their private land. And make no mistake, if billionaires and the corporations are allowed seize control of our public lands, we the working men and women of Idaho, we the people of the United States, will no longer be allowed. If they take our lands, they will lock them up tight. Our lands will become a playground for the elites and a tax deduction for corporations.
But we who love public lands are not republicans or democrats. We are not rural or urban. We are hikers and horsemen, runners and snowmobilers. We are hunters and anglers, we are outfitters and ranchers and loggers. We come from every background and we are unified. Collectively, we say, these lands are ours, and you cannot have them.
The preamble to the Idaho constitution reads, “We, the people of the State of Idaho, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom…” For those of us who love public lands, our freedom is the room to roam. Our freedom is access to our American land. Public lands are our freedom. And so we must battle the selfish interests that want our lands. We must tell congress. Not just once, but again and again.
We must rise in defense of the places we love. Not just today, but again and again in the days and weeks and years to come. Our public lands and rivers are not for sale. We must shout it from the rooftops. We must do more than send emails. We must send letters. We must demand meetings.
Above all, we must call them:
Call Sen. Crapo (208-334-1776)
Call Sen. Risch (208-342-7985)
Call Rep. Fulcher (208-888-3188)
Tell them. These are our forests. These are our rivers. These are our lands. They are not for sale.