my letter from Tammy Balwin (Dem, WI)--on Bush selling Nat. forest land

There is a petition somewhere on net to give input into this.
Deadline for comments is March 30


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: A message from Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin
Date: Mon, 27 Mar 2006 12:10:38 -0500
From: Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin <untendedreply@mail.house.gov>
To: xxxx






March 27, 2006


xxxxx

Dear xxxx,

Thank you for contacting me regarding President Bush's fiscal
year (FY) 2007 budget proposal and its provision to sell national
park land. I am happy to hear from you and apologize for the
delay in my response.

I am strongly opposed to President Bush's budget proposal to sell
304,000 acres of national forest in 41 states, including Wisconsin,
in order to fund a five year extension of the Secure Rural Schools
and Community Self-Determination Act. While I believe it is
important to provide support to rural schools across the United
States, this proposal does nothing to provide permanent source of
funding for rural schools and threatens our national forests, which
provide recreation for millions of citizens and are the home to
thousands of species. In addition, this proposal would set a
dangerous precedent if enacted. We should not make a habit of
selling treasured public land to compensate for a poorly-crafted
budget.

You will be pleased to know that several colleagues and I recently
sent a letter to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House
Committee on the Budget, Representatives Jim Nussle (R-IA) and
John Spratt (D-SC), urging that they oppose the Administration's
proposal. Please be assured that I will oppose any effort to
threaten our public lands. I will keep your thoughts in mind as
Congress considers the FY07 budget.

Again, thank you for sharing your views. Your opinion matters to
me. If I can be of service to you in any other way, please do not
hesitate to let me know. As a result of the anthrax incidents, all
mail sent to Congress is first irradiated. This process causes
significant delays. To ensure the


fastest response, I encourage all constituents who have access to
the internet to contact me through my website at
http://tammybaldwin.house.gov.

Sincerely,


Tammy Baldwin
Member of Congress


1022 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-2906

10 E. Doty Street
Suite 405
Madison, WI 53703
Phone: (608) 258-9800

400 E. Grand Avenue
Suite 402
Beloit, WI 53511
Phone: (608) 362-2800

www.tammybaldwin.house.gov

Deadline looming -Mar 30 - . National Forest Sell-off

Paul Richards (Candidate for Senate from Montana) has set up a page to protest the sale to private developers of more than a quarter of a million acres of public lands.

We only have until March 30 to get our comments into the National Forest Service.

After six years of undermining protections for public lands and forests, President Bush's FY 2007 budget proposes to sell more than a quarter of a million acres of public lands. This is another example of the Bush administration's loyalty to the logging, oil and gas industries. According to the New York Times, the Department of Interior's budget documents show that they plan to allow companies to pump about billion in oil and natural gas without paying royalties.


The Administration claims that selling forests managed by the U. S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is necessary to generate million to "offset" payments to rural schools. The permanent sale of these forestlands will only temporarily fund the program. This land sale proposal comes only a month after Congress, in the face of widespread, bi-partisan opposition, stripped Representative Pombo's scheme to sell millions of acres of national forests and parks for private development from the federal budget bill.

Please go to his "action" page and he'll forward your remarks to the Park Service and your own reps.

http://www.richards2006.us/petitions /

"We should not make a habit of selling treasured public land to compensate for a poorly-crafted budget. "