[Vision2020] Purpose of land exchange remains unclear

[Tom Hansen]

Courtesy of the Letters section of today's (October 19, 2011) Moscow-Pullman Daly News with special thanks to John Krebs of Potlatch.

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Purpose of land exchange remains unclear
The "checkerboard" lands in the proposed Upper Lochsa Land Exchange were acquired as a gift to the railroad companies - one section of public land for every mile of transcontinental rail line constructed.
These lands have been heavily logged by big timber companies, Plum Creek in this case, that sold the property to TWJ Holdings, LLC, now Western Pacific Timber. If you use Google Maps, you can readily see how much of the checkerboard has been logged on the Idaho side of Lolo Pass along U.S. Highway 12.
Why should the public buy back (or exchange) even one acre of well managed national forest lands for those once given as a gift? Let WPT keep these lands and pay taxes to Idaho County. Not one dollar from any public source should be used to purchase it.
The purpose and need for the acquisition of these lands is unclear, with the most recent being that WPT will log the rest and sell to a developer. You have to ask, would The Nature Conservancy and The Trust for Public Land allow such an event to occur? Check out the "Montana Legacy Project" on the Internet for your answer.
These two nonprofit organizations purchased 313,000 acres of Plum Creek (checkerboard) lands in Montana and turned 122,000 acres over to the Forest Service. Why didn't TNC buy the 40,000 acres in the Upper Lochsa? Why did Plum Creek sell their Idaho land to TWJ Holdings (WPT)? Are the checkerboard lands in the St. Joe River drainage (now owned and being logged by Forest Capital Partners) targeted for a future exchange for "isolated and difficult to manage" NF lands in Latah, Benewah and Clearwater counties?
To generate further questions check the Internet for the following: GAO report on the Federal Land Exchange Program; the Wildlands Project; and the Northern Rockies Action Group (Helena).
John Krebs, Potlatch
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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"Honest and true,
As the morning star.
Vote for just two,
Ament and Lamar."
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