[Smithhammer]

I wouldn't normally pull politics into this forum, but this is a conservation issue with the potential for major impact on the habitats we love. The run-down is this: quietly slipped into (without any public hearings), the House Reconciliation Bill (4241) , which will be voted on soon, is a provision that actually makes the 1872 Mining Law even more lax than it already is by allowing public lands to be sold off to mining and other development interests which merely express an interest in the land for $1000.00 an acre.Over half the blue ribbon trout streams in the U.S. are on public lands, and contain some of the best remaining habitat for migrating salmon and steelhead. And, as we've seen time and time again, mines generally get placed near available water sources.This legislation would also reverse a 30-year old Congressional mandate that public lands stay in public ownership. If you disagree with these measures, you can send a letter to your Represenative via TU from this link:
http://www.tu.org/siteapps/advocacy/ind ... id=1236013 Thanks.

[FliesOnly]

Thanks for the heads up Smith....We have had some issues here we are fighting as folks want to drill for gas near the storied Mason Tract very close to the South Branch of the Au Sable in Northern MI..... Every little bit helps!

[Brookwookie]

Originally posted by Smithhammer:n quietly slipped into (without any public hearings)

Soulless dogfucking thieves with their hearts thick with gritty crisco and black tar would quietly sell their grandmothers for cat food if they thought it would grease the wheels. They should be periodically dragged back to their districts to explain themselves and be pelted with pig shit and kicked in the teeth. There is absolutely no reason why we should have to put up with this kind of shabby bullshit.

[WT]

Seems like this sort of thing is happening all over the place these days.n I got an email from TU yesterday with the same link. It only took a second to do, I hope that everyone here has time to do it too.n WT

<small>[ November 17, 2005, 11:00 AM: Message edited by: WT ]</small>

[Smithhammer]

Beautifully put, as usual Dave. To anyone who's been following it, the term "Public Lands" is quickly, and quietly, becoming a complete fallacy, due to corporate whores like Richard Pombo (R. Ca.) who was the "Representative" who added this to the bill. n This is not a partisan issue by any means - its a money grubbing, soul-less bastards vs. anyone who cares at all about protecting the legacy that was supposed to be all of ours issue. Please voice your opinion, and if you live in Pombo's district, make sure he feels it come election time.
:

[FliesOnly]

"Soulless Dogfucking Thieves with their hearts thick with gritty crisco and black tar ......."n That just about sums up most politicians!

[Brookwookie]

Originally posted by Smithhammer:n This is not a partisan issue by any means

True, but once they're inside the beltway (a.k.a. the stinking toxic gorget of puerile filth that chokes away all good faith and principle like industrial solvent), they're all partisan issues. The jackals of all stripes have become far too comfortable. It's time to chase them up the windmill and set it ablaze and paint ourselves with their ashes and piss and howl like the savages they apparently expect us to be. Maybe that would serve as a warning to the rest of the bastards that they should stick to jobs as exterminators and Fox News executives and leave Congress to competent people with functioning souls.This thread caught me on the wrong day. I've been listening to The Clash all morning.

<small>[ November 17, 2005, 12:48 PM: Message edited by: Dave L ]</small>

[Smithhammer]

Originally posted by Dave L:n This thread caught me on the wrong day. I've been listening to The Clash all morning.

On the contrary - I'd say it caught you on the right day. n Let me know when the Beltway trip happens, I'm there. "You have a right to free speech, that is, as long as you're not dumb enough to actually try it." - The Clash

[Rooster]

Thanks for the Heads up, smithhammer.

[Nemo]

I FUCKING LOVE DAVE.

[bigtj]

Smithhammer--Mind if I put your post over on FAOL? The more people that see this, the more e-mails will get sent.Let me know..Thanks,-John

[cfisher]

Smithhammer, right on.
Our public lands are America's enduring legacy, they embody democracy, and moreover are the place that the average person can get out and enjoy hunting and fishing without rod fees, hunting leases, and all the other attempts to privatize/commercialize the wildlife and wild places that belong to and are held in trust for ALL AMERICANS.
Fight the punks, excercise your rights as citizens and tell your reps what you think as a constituent, write letters to the editor, join a conservation org, stay informed, and to paraphrase Ed Abbey, get out and enjoy the wild too...we will outlive the bastards! n P.S. A couple good books on America's public lands heritage have been written by Jim Posewitz, a Montana wirter and founder of Orion, The Hunters Intitute. They are [/img]nherite The Hunt" and "Rifle in Hand"; I highly recommend these short, thourough reads because as Posewitz says, that which you understand, you can protect.