TITLE V–FACILITY REALIGNMENT AND ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2005
This title may be cited as the `Forest Service Land Disposition and Facility
Realignment and Enhancement Act of 2005′, or the ‘Facility Dismemberment and Goverment Disembowelment act of 2005‘.
Here’s how Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns recently described the
proposal:
"This proposal would provide useful tools for reducing the Forest Service
administrative site maintenance backlog and improve the ability to realign
facilities to meet the needs of today’s Forest Service workforce and
mission. The proposed legislation would authorize the Secretary of
Agriculture to sell, lease, exchange, or combine a sale and exchange of any
administrative site that the Secretary determines is no longer needed for
National Forest System purposes. The legislation incorporates several new
authorities to facilitate the timely disposal of administrative sites."
Here is what Scott Silver had this to say:
Put it all together this is what you get: If there’s a building on public
lands, the USFS is being encouraged to privatize the public estate so that
developers can use the land to build anything they want. The fact that
private inholdings may be created in the process don’t seem to be of any
concern to anyone."
Tom Udall of New Mexico, was skeptical: "I think it creates an incentive
that could have some very adverse consequences," he said. "If you have
agencies which are starved for maintenance funds, and you create the
incentive to sell assets to get maintenance funds they might very well be
carrying out transactions that are not the best."
"This administration is disposing of your country, disposing of your National Parks and Forests, disposing of your constitution. They are disposing of your retirement benefits, your right to public education, your free access to public lands and roads, your public broadcasting system.
They are parting-out and unloading everything.
What remains to be seen is whether the people of this nation will rise up and fight in defense of what is being stolen from them."
- Scott Silver