Land Grab THIS IS IMPORTANT!

Land Rights Network
> American Land Rights Association
> PO Box 400 - Battle Ground, WA 98604
> Phone: 360-687-3087 - Fax: 360-687-2973
> E-mail: alra@pacifier.com
> Web Address: http://www.landrights.org
> Legislative Office: 507 Seward Square SE - Washington, DC 20003
> 
> Sec. Salazar Bypassing Congress Creating New Wild Lands Areas
> 
> Secretary Salazar has taken Congressional Power for himself. He's
> directing BLM to identify a new category of Wilderness area, what he
> is calling Wild Lands. 
> 
> This is a huge land grab meant to bypass Congress. Only Congress is
> supposed to be able to designate Wilderness areas. 
> 
> -----Word must get out about this quickly. Please forward this
> message to your entire e-mail list as soon as you can.
> 
> -----Obama Is Eying Western Lands for new National Monuments.
> 
> -----American Land Rights Association has a Page on Facebook. Sign on
> as a Fan.
> 
> Also Executive Director Chuck Cushman is on Facebook.
> 
> -----In this E-mail: 
> 
> What's the Wild Lands problem? What's the solution? Action Items
> listed below. 
> 
> Wilderness Areas and Monuments--- They're Baaack --- a Rose by
> another Name. 
> 
> Interior Secretary Salazar is calling them "Wild Lands." He plans to
> set millions of acres aside without Congressional approval . . .
> unless you act now. 
> 
> Only Congress is supposed to designate any new Wilderness Areas. 
> 
> Secretary Salazar has decided that he can designate Wilderness areas
> going around Congress and cutting you out of the process. He's
> changing the name and calling the new areas "Wild Lands." 
> 
> What Interior Secretary Salazar is proposing: 
> 
> -----220 million acres of unclassified multiple-use lands in the
> Western States and Alaska to be set aside for review and
> determination if they are "Wild Lands." (As proposed by the green
> groups.)
> 
> -----All public lands will be considered for new restrictions that
> would limit access;
> 
> -----Access limitations would curtail oil and natural gas leasing and
> development; 
> 
> -----Access limitations would restrict mining projects as well as
> renewable and alternative energy development; 
> 
> -----Access limitations could eliminate or reduce grazing;
> 
> -----Access limitation would likely eliminate many motorized
> recreational uses; 
> 
> -----The new restrictions could mean no campgrounds, no off-road
> vehicle use and limited or no motorized use on many of the existing
> roads and trails;
> 
> -----The access limitations would mean no way stations for veterinary
> or emergency facilities; 
> 
> -----Snowmobiles and snow machine use would be limited or eliminated
> in these new Wild Land Areas. Your popular recreation access would be
> cut off;
> 
> -----Access for the handicapped, elderly and children using
> traditional off highway vehicles or snowmobiles could be eliminated;
> and
> 
> -----Millions of people would lose access to traditional recreation
> areas. 
> 
> -----Anyone can nominate lands for Wild Lands Designation and it is
> immediately presumed to be designated; BLM land use plans are then
> required to be amended and all activities on those lands are
> affected; and
> 
> -----Allows all actions under the Secretary's Order to be
> implemented without any economic or scientific study and without any
> public notice, comment or review.
> 
> -----XXXXX The Secretary's Order Scoffs at limitations imposed by the
> Courts and laws passed by Congress;
> 
> -----This is a violation of the 1964 Wilderness Act that defined
> minimum criteria for designation of areas as 'Wilderness';
> 
> -----This is violation of the spirit of the Department's 2003
> Settlement Agreement with the State of Utah; 
> 
> -----This action undermines every existing BLM land use plan already
> adopted;
> 
> -----This action allows bureaucrats answerable to no one to impose
> access restrictions to lands as though they have the Congressional
> power; and
> 
> -----This action ignores the public processes identified and required
> by FLPMA and NEPA(Federal Land Policy And Management Act of 1976 and
> the National Environmental Policy Act of 1970).
> 
> -----XXXXX. The consequences of the Executive Branch (Interior
> Department and the Secretary of Interior) taking legislative power to
> themselves is staggering:
> 
> -----Millions of acres of Federal lands will now be closed to the
> public making them off limits to fishing, hunting, camping or riding.
> 
> -----Much of today's domestic oil and natural gas is produced in the
> affected states. More than 40% of that production comes from Federal
> multiple-use lands. The "Wild Lands" designations will result in
> delays or outright reductions in leasing and permitting for these and
> other development activities. 
> 
> -----A significant percent of the designated lands will be closed to
> future energy uses, including wind farms and transmission lines for
> clean energy; 
> 
> -----These delays and closures will reduce revenues to the states,
> counties and the Federal government from bonuses, rents and
> royalties;
> 
> -----Counties, cities and states will lose much needed revenue. If
> your county is already struggling with a budget deficit, these delays
> in economic activities and land closures will result in the loss of
> income from oil and gas revenues, ranching revenues and mining
> revenues making the problem much worse;
> 
> -----The whole economic ecosystem of most Western States and counties
> will by strangled in red tape and bureaucracy right in the middle of
> our worst recession in 70 years; 
> 
> -----Schools, libraries, police and fire protection will lose
> important funding;
> 
> -----At a time when the national unemployment level is over 10% more
> people will lose their jobs as resource based industries on Federal
> lands are shut down; and
> 
> -----At a time when federal deficits are in the trillions, the
> federal government will lose funds and billions of dollars in future
> income and economic activity.
> 
> -----XXXXX. WHAT YOU CAN DO TO STOP THIS LAND GRAB
> 
> -----ACTION ITEMS:
> 
> -----1. Please forward this message to your entire e-mail list. The
> more people who hear about this giant land grab the better chance you
> have to defeat it.
> 
> -----2. Call, fax and e-mail any Democrat Senator from your state.
> You can get their contact information by calling any Senator at (202)
> 224-3121. You should also contact the Republicans. 
> 
> Urge him or her to join the effort to rescind the Secretary's Wild
> Lands Order and stop the designation of any land in your state. 
> 
> He or she can do it if they want to. It is a question of will. Make
> sure he or she knows you will remember how they respond to this land
> grab in coming elections.
> 
> -----3. Call, fax and e-mail any Democrat and Republican Congressmen
> from your state urging them to oppose the Secretary's Wilderness
> power grab through budget cuts, targeted prohibition and staff
> reductions. 
> 
> They can do it if they want to bad enough. You may call any
> Congressman at (202) 225-3121. Make sure they know this will be an
> issue in the 2012 election.
> 
> -----4. Forward this message to any people in the Tea Party movement.
> This Secretarial big government land grab and increase in the deficit
> is exactly the kind of thing they oppose.
> 
> -----5. Call your friends and neighbors to get them to call your
> Congressman and both Senators. Ask them to do the same things we have
> outlined above.
> 
> -----6. Ask Congress to take away all funding for Interior Secretary
> Salazar's Wild Lands backroom order and any implementation that is
> already in process.
> 
> -----7. Call, fax and e-mail your Congressman. All Congressmen may be
> called at (202) 225-3121. That is the Capitol Switchboard. Ask for
> your Congressman. When that office answers, ask for the person who
> handles the BLM. Ask for his fax and e-mail address. 
> 
> -----8. Call, fax and e-mail your Senator. All Senators may be called
> at (202) 224-3121. Follow the same instructions as listed above. 
> 
> The key is to make the Members of Congress in the Senate and House
> responsible for the actions of the Secretary, especially his allies,
> the Democrats. 
> 
> Your calls will get your Congressman and Senator to ask President
> Obama to direct the Secretary to suspend application of the Wild
> Lands Order. 
> 
> -----9. Call the White House at (202) 456-1111
> 
> -----http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact
> 
> If you make enough calls, you can stop anything.
> 
> -----There must be an uprising of opposition to the application of
> the Secretary's Wild Lands Order in each state insisting that the
> Democrat Senators and Congressman from that state forcefully request
> that Obama direct the Secretary not to designate Wild Lands in your
> state.
> 
> -----You must know that President Obama will not designate any Wild
> Lands in states where there are a significant number of Democrat
> Senators or Congressmen in opposition. He will not want to risk
> losing his allies in next years election.
> 
> -----You must make any Democrat Senators and Congressmen from your
> state responsible for the designation of any Wild Lands in your
> state. If they oppose them, the Secretary can be directed by Obama to
> not designate the Wild Lands in these states.
> 
> By taking this action, one of two things will happen. First, your
> Democrat Senators and Congressmen may be successful in getting Obama
> to take lands in your state out of any Wild Lands Designation
> process. That would begood for your state. The Democrat Senators and
> Congressmen in your state would get some credit but that is OK if you
> stop the designations.
> 
> The second thing that could happen is that if you make enough noise
> and clamor about this huge land grab, and Obama allows Interior
> Secretary Salazar to go ahead and designate the Wild Lands, it will
> make your Democrat Senators and Congressmen look weak and
> ineffective.
> 
> That will help you defeat them in November 2012. Many are already
> vulnerable and will not be eager to get the credit for creating more
> Federal land set asides and hurting their local governments. And that
> is exactly what they will be doing if they do not help you stop the
> Wild Lands Designations now.
> 
> You must make your Democrat Senators and Congressmen responsible for
> any Wild Lands designations in your state.
> 
> -----Don't make your calls like a threat. Just make it clear that you
> and your neighbors are watching the Secretary's actions and those of
> the unelected and unaccountable bureaucracies and will remember how
> your Senators and Congressmen did or did not act to defend you from
> the Obama land grabbers.
> 
> -----Everyone must pitch in, even if you have no potential Wild Lands
> or Wilderness Study areas in your state at this point. This is a team
> game; anyone losing property rights or access to Federal lands as a
> result of Secretary Salazar's sneak attack on rural America means
> everyone loses. 
> 
> Remember what is happening is government taking access to and the use
> of Federal lands by Salazar signing an order in a back room, dark of
> night sneak attack without any public involvement. 
> 
> The Interior Department and BLM make the rules, make the decisions
> and no one, not even Congress, has control or oversight. 
> 
> If the new Wild Lands rules don't hurt you today, they can and likely
> will hurt you tomorrow. The Federal agencies can change the rules in
> the back room, dark of night strategy they used to create the Wild
> Lands with no notice, comment, or control.
> 
> This is a team game. If enough people are outraged, you can stop
> anything.
> 
> Remember your concern about the proposed Obama National Monuments
> last year? Early last year "Secret" documents from the Interior
> Department identified more than 13 million acres were being
> considered for "conservation". These areas included Arizona deserts,
> California mountains, Montana prairies, New Mexico forests,
> Washington islands and the Great Basins of Nevada and Colorado. 
> 
> As a reminder, here is a partial list of the areas that have already
> been unsuccessfully targeted by DOI, thanks to your efforts last
> year: 
> 
> -----Otero Mesa, New Mexico: The area stretches over 1.2 million
> acres and is home to 1,000 native species. Gov. Bill Richardson has
> sought protection for Otero Mesa for years, but the Bush
> administration targeted it for oil and gas development;
> 
> -----Heart of the Great Basin, Nevada: Researchers call it a
> "globally unique assemblage of cultural, wildlife and historic
> values" that includes thousands of petroglyphs and stone artifacts
> dating back 12,000 years;
> 
> -----Owyhee Desert, Oregon: Called one of the most remote areas of
> the United States, the Owyhee is home to the largest herd of
> California bighorn sheep;
> 
> -----Bodie Hills, California: Located in the fast growing eastern
> Sierra Nevada mountains;Bodie contains the Golden State's best
> preserved ghost town. But the area is also loaded with gold, and
> several mining permits are pending; and
> 
> -----The Modoc Plateau, California: Spanning close to 3 million acres
> in the northwest corner of California, the Modoc Plateau is "laden
> with biological and archeological treasures." Interior officials call
> it the second largest unprotected landscape in the state.
> 
> The Obama National Monument proposal is mild when compared to the
> Secretary's Wild Lands Order.
> 
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
> Reminder: If you are the target of one of Obama and Salazar's Wild
> Lands, Wilderness Study Areas, National Monuments, Treasured
> Landscape or other land grab, but sure to call American Land Rights
> for help. ALRA can show you how to fight back and win against the
> land grabbers.
> 
> American Land Rights works hard to help you compete in the political
> process in Congress. Your support is critical to provide the
> resources to allow ALRA to be successful. 
> 
> Please go to www.landrights.org <http://www.landrights.org/>
> to join American Land Rights and provide your support. Membership is
> $35 unless this is your first year. If you are a new member, you may
> join at $25 for the first year. 
> 
> You can use the place on the Home Page to make your membership
> contribution or you may mail it to American Land Rights, PO Box 400,
> Battle Ground, WA 98604. 
> 
> Sincerely,
> March -- 2011 
> Chuck Cushman
> ccushman@pacifier.com
> (360) 687-3087