To: locogringo who wrote (843199 ) 3/16/2015 9:46:14 PM From: Mongo2116 Respond to A proposal to seize and sell off America’s national forests and other public lands could make its way into the House GOP’s budget resolution when it is announced this week.memo to the House Budget Committee, Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT), chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, proposed that America’s public lands be transferred to state control. He then requested $50 million of taxpayer money to be spent to enable transfers to “start immediately.” The memo states that public lands “create a burden for the surrounding states and communities,” and “the solution is to convey land without strings to state, local, and tribal governments.”raise taxes , open prized recreation areas to drilling and mining, or sell lands to private interests to cover the substantial costs of management .expensive , unpopular , and most importantly, unconstitutional — there is a strong likelihood that Rep. Bishop’s request will be included in the House GOP’s budget, thanks to intensive lobbying efforts by a handful of right wing politicians and special interest groups.E&E Daily , the American Lands Council (ALC), an organization founded by Utah state Rep. Ken Ivory (R), hired a lobbyist at the end of last year to “educate congressional lawmakers on the benefits of relinquishing federal lands to the states.” Federal lobbying disclosure forms show that the ALC paid the lobbyist, Michael Swenson, $150,000 for just three months of lobbying work.Utah mining company , has denied being paid the sum. He told E&E the lobbying disclosure form was a “mistake,” and that he was paid just $20,000 in the last quarter of 2014.Center for Western Priorities (CWP), 47 county governments have spent a total of more than $219,000 for ALC membership. Most of these county governments receive substantial federal grant money through the Payment in Lieu of Taxes Program (PILT), raising questions about whether American taxpayer dollars are being channeled to fund lobbying of the federal government. A federal law, known as the Byrd Amendment , prohibits the use of federal funds from a grant to be used for lobbying federal officials.model legislation ’ to conservative lawmakers in Western states.$2 million fight.nine other states are also developing and advancing similar legislative proposals, supported by expensive taxpayer-funded studies. According to a CWP analysis, Western states have spent a total of $816,000 of taxpayer funds on such studies in recent years.this week .
