Bravo SR!
I just want to add a couple comments about wild fires supposedly "destroying" public lands.
[1] I live in California, (where, if one believes the media hype, approximately 1/2 the state burns to a cinder during each year's wild fire season). It is true that we are having larger wild fires in many parts of the west, but this is directly attributable to past government policies of "protecting" lands by "preventing" wild fires. To put it in terms everybody here should be able to understand, <g>, by concentrating on fire prevention and suppression for so long, the government created a dry underbrush "BUBBLE" which is currently in the process of being burned off -- literally -- and there ain't nuttin nobody can do about it no way, no how.
[2] If anybody wants to see nature at its most beautiful, go visit those areas of Yellowstone which were "destroyed" by fire a few years ago.
[3] Public lands are rarely damaged by wild fire in any real sense. People with homes on or adjacent to lands subject to such fires suffer losses for sure. But the real losers from wild fires are commercial interests such as loggers and ranchers -- wild fires deprive them of their (supposedly) G-d given right to federally subsidized timber, grazing, and water.
[4] Guess what Don? Look at a map of the U.S. Everything west of the Mississippi was acquired from some other country by the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, (via the Louisiana purchase, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, etc.). That means that I OWN A PIECE OF IT, and I'M tired of the government GIVING AWAY MY WEALTH FOR NOTHING.
If I had my way, I'd appoint Warren Buffett as Secretary of Interior.
You want to log MY LAND? Fine. Pay up.
You want to mine gold on my land? Okay, SHOW ME THE MONEY!
You want some of MY WATER? I'll be happy to sell you some, so long as YOUR use of the water gives me a better investment return than anybody else's.
Oh, and when you're finished mining or logging on MY LAND, you'd best leave the place as nice as when you found it, because a lot of my fellow LAND OWNERS rely on that land to make their livings -- whether it be from fishing, tourism or what have you. Plus, that land is a valuable asset that I want to pass to my grandchildren. So, if you damage MY LAND while you're using it, you are taking money out of my grandkids' trust funds, and I'm going to come after you and KICK YOUR FARKING ARSE! |
