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February 10, 2006
Administration Proposes to Sell
Hundreds of Acres of Los Padres Forestland
ForestWatch
Criticizes Proposal to Sell Off
Public Lands to Private Developers
Washington, D.C. - The
administration today proposed selling 307,000 acres of National
Forest lands, including three parcels totaling 430 acres on the
Los Padres National Forest.
The controversial sale is part
of President Bush's proposed budget, delivered to Congress
earlier this week. In it, the administration proposes to raise
$800 million by selling tracts of public lands across the
nation. It would be the largest land sale of its kind since
President Theodore Roosevelt established the U.S. Forest Service
in 1905 and created the modern national forest system.
The proceeds will be used to
extend the Payment to States program for another five years.
This program requires the Forest Service to give 25% of its
annual revenues from logging and other resource extraction
activities to rural counties that contain national forest lands.
The administration is proposing the land sale as a way to fund
this five-year extension.
ForestWatch criticized the
plan. "There are far more effective ways to balance the budget
than to start selling off our public lands to private
developers," said Jeff Kuyper, ForestWatch executive director.
ForestWatch believes that these parcels should be retained by
the agency so that they can be sold or traded for more valuable
lands inside of the forest that are still privately owned.
Members of Congress
representing areas around the Los Padres National Forest were
also quick to criticize the proposal. "It's possible to fund
rural schools without selling off public lands," said Rep. Lois
Capps, adding that the proposal was "appalling." Senator Dianne
Feinstein stated, "The plan is a terrible idea based on a
misguided sense of priorities. A stable funding source must be
provided, but not at the expense of our wilderness."
Los Padres Lands Slated for
Sale
The proposal includes three
separate parcels of land in the Los Padres National Forest,
including:
- Hungry Valley (216 acres)
- Located along the eastern edge of the Los Padres, near the
Ventura-LA county line. This parcel is entirely surrounded
by the Hungry Valley State Vehicular Recreation Area, an
area used by off-road vehicle enthusiasts.
- Branch Canyon (40 acres) -
Located in the Cuyama Valley, just north of Lion Canyon.
This parcel is in the South Cuyama oil field, and is
currently leased to E&B Natural Resources.
- Bitter Creek (74 acres) -
Located in the Cuyama Valley, just north of the Aliso
Campground. This parcel is also in the South Cuyama oil
field, and is leased to E&B Natural Resources.
These isolated parcels are
separate from the main portion of the Los Padres and, according
to the Forest Service, are "inefficient to manage due to
location or other characteristics." They also contain oil
development or receive heavy off-road vehicle use. However, even
if these parcels no longer have national forest character,
ForestWatch believes that the agency should exchange these
parcels for more valuable private lands inside wilderness and
other pristine areas of the forest.
California Particularly
Hard-Hit
More than one-fourth of the
acres being considered for sale are in California, with 85,465
acres. The Klamath National Forest and other forests in Northern
California have the most amount of lands slated for sale. Out of
the four Southern California national forests, the Los Padres
contains the most land to be sold.
What's Next
The proposal faces several
major hurdles. First, Congress must vote on the proposal. Just
last year, Congress removed from a spending bill a similar
provision to sell off national forest lands (see related story).
It is unclear whether this current proposal has enough support
to pass Congress.
The Forest Service will publish
maps of the proposed sale areas on February 28 and will accept
comments. ForestWatch will post these maps on our website and
provide an easy way for you to submit your comments on this bad
proposal.
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