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Special Report
The New Landlord
Awaiting the Obamaization of the great American West.
The United States Department of the Interior oversees 507 million acres — mostly in the West — of national parks, national monuments, wildlife refuges, Indian reservations, and rangelands. Through its Bureau of Reclamation, it maintains over 600 dams with reservoirs that provide water and hydropower to 30 million Westerners, and irrigates 60% of the vegetables grown in America. Almost 70% of the nation’s oil and gas reserves are found on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) administered lands, also under the purview of the Interior Department.
With all the forecasts in the conservative press concerning the likely excesses of the coming Obama Administration, I’ve seen almost nothing about what effect his tenure might have on the above “public domain.” The regional liberal media (the Denver Post, Idaho Statesman, High Country News, et al.) has produced a few pieces speculating as to who would follow Bush-appointee and former U.S. Senator and Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne as the next Secretary of the Interior. The green left in the West longs for the days of ex-Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, him of avuncular land larceny and great survival skills. (Babbitt managed to hold on to the post through the entire eight years of the Clinton Administration despite a scandal involving the Bureau of Indian Affairs.)
The short list includes such green-credentialed liberals as: Rep. Jay Inslee of Washington; Rep. George Miller of California; Governor Brian Schweitzer of Montana; John Leshy, a former Interior Department solicitor and Babbitt associate; even environmental activist Robert F. “Bobby” Kennedy, Jr. But leaving the name game behind, let’s consider the possible mischief that an Obama Interior Secretary pick could promote.
Speaking of the green-sainted Babbitt, we may see a return to the bad old '90s, when he cynically used the 1906 Antiquities Act to close off six million acres of federal holdings mostly in the West to oil and gas development by the creation of 21 new national monuments, again, mostly in the West. Babbitt and the president he served famously neglected to notify Governor Mike Leavitt and the Utah congressional delegation when they created the 1.9 million acres Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in 1996. Considering our current energy crisis, a return to this reckless policy would not be good. Babbitt was busy working on the gas-rich Red Desert area of southwestern Wyoming when the Clinton era ended. That’s one that got away.
The Endangered Species Act will not only not be reformed (another Bush Administration and Republican Congress sin of omission), but will continue to be used to bludgeon property rights and resource development. For instance, the Sage Grouse will be the new Spotted Owl, enabling greens to judicially disrupt oil and gas ventures on BLM holdings.
Currently, 360,00 acres of BLM land in Utah are slated to be opened to natural gas development. Obama transition coordinator John Podesta said on “Fox News Sunday” recently that this could possibly be squelched by executive order.
Get ready for national park access by mass transit in order to minimize automobile usage. Yosemite, Zion, and Grand Canyon have already instituted shuttle bus services, with Yosemite boasting nine routes. Nothing scares the Chambers of Commerce of “Gateway communities” around Yellowstone more than the idea of having to tell tourists they can’t drive on the Park’s extensive highway system. But the green dream calls for car-free national parks. Snowmobiles? RVs? Loud motorcycles? A no-brainer.
Dams will be de-commissioned, that is, breached. For example, doing this on four on the lower Snake River (Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose, Lower Granite) would certainly permit salmon to swim upstream unimpeded, but would also disrupt navigation, irrigation, recreation, water usage, and electric service in the region.
In Indian Country more federal largesse will increase fiscal corruption and only add to the already sorry state of affairs on the reservations: high rates of crime, drug and alcohol abuse, health problems, unemployment, poverty, and suicide.
Thirty-three thousand wild horses populate BLM lands (with another 30,000 corralled in “holding facilities”). Look for the suspension of federal roundups to manage their numbers, as well as of adopt-a-horse programs, which wild horse and animal rights activists strongly oppose. This will result in overpopulation and degraded rangelands.
Which will be okay with the anti-cow crowd because cattle grazing on leased BLM land will either be reduced or abolished, thereby increasing production costs for ranchers and raising beef prices at the supermarket. If it’s not abolished, AUM (Animal Unit per Month: One steer or one cow-calf pair) grazing fees will be increased. Either way, Western livestock producers lose.
The United States Forest Service is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, but 193 million acres of national forests will be similarly handled. Little logging, increased access and campground fees, and a permanent codification of the Clinton Administration’s last minute 2001 58.5 million acres “Roadless Rule,” an executive order immediately opposed by the then-incoming Bush Administration, and one that has been bouncing around in the courts for years.
And that’s how the Obama Administration might supervise 25% of the land area of the United States.
Maybe it’s time for a revival of the old 1970s Sagebrush Rebellion, when Western Republican congressional delegations, governors, and state legislatures worked hard to oppose the such measures as the Endangered Species Act (1973) and the Carter Administration’s heavy-handed public lands policies. Alas, those regional GOP political entities are paper tigers today.
The American West’s future is bleak.
About the Author
Bill Croke, formerly of Cody, Wyoming, is a writer in Salmon, Idaho.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (102) | Leave a comment
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Pecos Pete| 11.14.08 @ 7:58AM
The National Forest Service (NFS) is already shy of an adequate budget. There won't be an increase in funding for them in the new administration because the federal government will be too involved with spending money to fix the economy. There will be further degradation of lands and services administered by the NFS.
At the same time the new administration will undertake a land grab to prevent commercial use of public lands. As with any government managed program we can expect reduced access and improperly maintained infrastructure. As for oil and gas, ranching, or logging...the environmentalists will shut it down.
dgdc| 11.14.08 @ 8:26AM
One of the reasons the west, especially the coast, practically glows blue is the environmental issue. So yeah the big land owners and the corporations looking for more government handouts might complain but most of the voters will be happier with a strengthened environmental policy.
jasper nagol| 11.14.08 @ 11:18AM
Thanks for the info. Sounds great to me.
Marc Jeric| 11.14.08 @ 1:08PM
Membership in the Communist Party USA fell off after the mass murders of Stalin and Mao became known. So many ex-members switched to environmentalism where they could continue their war against private enterprise, which by the way is the only garantor of personal freedom. Mass murder by the environmentalists now approaches the Stalin and Mao numbers; they put DDT out of use, saying it was not biodegradable and kills fish and birds. Not true - it is biodegradable and never hurt a single fish or bird. In the meantime malaria has killed 30 million Africans for lack of the now illegal DDT. The greens consider this a great success. It seems a sure bet the Obama greens will build on that "success".
Mike Campbell| 11.14.08 @ 2:38PM
Here's a refreshingly radical idea: The western states take the Obama envirofascists to court every time they do a land grab - got any guts Governors? If that doesn't work, take it one step further - announce that nothing in the CONSTITUTION gives the federal government the right to own and confiscate STATE land. Announce that you are opening the properties to STATE licensed resource drillers for immediate bidding. Announce that STATE environmental laws will take precendent and once these have been met, drilling and mining can proceed. What is the federal government going to do - pull troops in from Iraq to invade Utah? If it calls out the Utah National Guard, let the Governor order them to stand down - they belong to UTAH! Want to bet the vast majority of the American people would back the defiance if it freed up more oil and gas? Of course it would be up to Fox News and the Blogs to get the word out - The MSM would roundly condemn it. How much longer till someone with some GUTS calls the federal governments bluff? The pot is getting warmer people - time for the frog to jump out....
Emeril| 11.14.08 @ 3:00PM
Sage Grouse is tasty. Spotted Owl not so much.
Joe Fezio| 11.14.08 @ 4:13PM
There is not a governor with the testicals to do this because the federal government would just shut off the federal dollars that flow to that state. The have nots (those to lazy to work) have elected their man, the illegals will be given the right to vote and the Democrats are in chare to stay. I am looking at Costa Rica for my retirement.
Bart | 11.14.08 @ 4:26PM
Yep, Costa Rica is sounding pretty good. 18 months to retirement and I can leave this socialist cesspool (Oregon) for ever.
weirdone | 11.14.08 @ 5:49PM
First my money goes off shore, then my business then me. By
Gazinya| 11.14.08 @ 7:48PM
Forget Costa Rica. They are getting somewhat thin on patience with all the 'worlds retired' looking for a place to kick back. My suggestion is Panama. It is a beautiful place and they use $ for their currency. And because they own the Panama Canal they actually like Americans.
ItsNotYourLand| 11.14.08 @ 10:08PM
Ah, the whining westerners are at it again. Repeat after me: "Its not our land, its the nation's land. Its not our land, its the nation's land." If someone lives close to your land, does that mean that they then have rights in your land? Of course not. So too for land owned by the government. It is managed and controlled by the NATION's elected officials, not neighboring landowners or the population of a small subset of states. Our elected leaders probably will see fit to end give-aways to whining western landowners. God bless Obama.
Dave| 11.14.08 @ 11:00PM
In the long run, the land belongs to those who can take it and hold it. 'nuff said.
Eliot| 11.15.08 @ 4:33AM
I agree with Dave; the existence of democratic governments fools us into thinking that we have a right to things that we can only truly hold if we have the necessary power (cf. Machiavelli). However, if we simply abandon ship when we do not agree with the administration, we may find ourselves subject to even further suppression of our freedom. We cannot free ourselves from living in a nation and, thus, must attempt to support the one that allows the greatest possible personal liberty; the USA is still the best answer.
Mike Campbell: I agree with you that the state should be the focus of these powers. You make an error, however, in saying that the Utah National Guard belongs to Utah. When you take the oath in joining the NG, you pledge allegiance to BOTH the governor AND the president. Thus, the president does have the power to use each individual state's guard to help protect the nation.
Eugene Debbs| 11.15.08 @ 5:12AM
Bart --
Good riddance. Don't let the door hit you on your way out.
Socialist cesspool!
That's how Bart refers to the greatest democracy on the face of the earth.
Ass.
Barbara C| 11.15.08 @ 9:38AM
Ironic that the environmentalists never say anything about the illegal aliens destroying the desert & mountain areas, but boy if we want our own energy sources, they have a fit.
dgdc| 11.15.08 @ 10:49AM
Maybe you shpuld double check the definition of irony. Environmentalists are frequently complaing about the devastation wrought by illegal immigrants crossing the borders. You probably heard about the problem from environmentalists
Mike Campbell| 11.15.08 @ 12:04PM
Hey ItsNotYourLand: I repeat, where in the CONSTITUTION (remember that?) does it say the federal government has the right to own ANY STATES land? "the Nation's land?" Then perhaps we should have a national referendum on drilling on the "Nation's land." Care to guess which side would win by a landslide? But I digress: It's time to draw a line - the federal government doesn't have any Constitutional basis for owning state land. The federal Obamafascists won't stop until forced to. All state options should be on the table. If not now, when will we say "ENOUGH!"
David | 11.15.08 @ 2:45PM
Pay off the federal debt by selling off federal land. This will be a win X : (1) cleared debt frees up federal interest payments for other purposes, (2) less federal property means fewer federal employees, who produce nothing, (3) new private property means land that the local bureaucrats can (and will) tax, & (4) private property will probably actually produce revenue. This is the only fair way to clear $10 trillion of accummulated federal debt.
dgdc| 11.15.08 @ 8:25PM
Mike Campbell-Explicitly in Article 4 Section 3 Claim 2 of US Constitution; implicitly ins several other sections
It's liberal, "living" constitution jerks like you who hate the text of the constitution and want to reinterpret it to fit your own agenda that cause so many problems today
Alexandra| 11.15.08 @ 9:24PM
I agree that the government has to much oversite on "public" lands and the "endangered species act" is a problem, but it is the only thing that may save our community from the onslaught of windmills that are a scam. I have actual production records that show that all the 4,000+ windmills near Palm Springs, CA only generate 100+/- MW per year, intermittently, of which only 5-6% [5-6 MW] are generted at peak need times. The problem I have is that both the Repubs and Dems are encouraging this useless energy on us, the rate and tax payers. Our propery values are decimated along with our quiet rural life, with noise, visual blight and energy prices that have quadrupled. In this instance, because of the "endangeres species act", perhaps our area will be saved from this scam, which NO ONE ever askes... how much and when they generate this miniscule amount. They just keep throwing money at this useless energy source. Anyone interested in getting these Wind Energy production records can e-mail me at bobweit@msn.com and by the way I am a staunch conservative...but I'm hoping the Sierra Club will rescue our small village from this onslaught, which they said they will and they are the only ones that said that they will help us fight this and save our area. How sad that the Repubs have bought into this scam of the public.
John| 11.16.08 @ 10:22PM
God is at play.
Wisdom frolics in his temple like a child.
The world is an illusion.