<!doctype html public "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN">
<html><head><style type="text/css"><!--
blockquote, dl, ul, ol, li { padding-top: 0 ; padding-bottom: 0 }
--></style><title>Otter to sell off public lands</title></head><body>
<div>This re-posted from Spokesman-Review reporter Betsy
Rusell's blog (http://www.spokesmanreview.com/blogs/boise/). Betsy's
blog along with Randy Stapilus' at http://www.ridenbaugh.com/ are
excellent places to find out what's really going on in Boise.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>m.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><font face="Trebuchet MS" size="+2" color="#000000"><br>
</font><font face="Verdana" size="+3" color="#000000"><b>Brady
denounces Otter move to sell public lands<br>
<br>
</b></font><font face="Trebuchet MS" size="+2"
color="#000000">Democratic candidate for governor Jerry Brady was
joined by former longtime Idaho Fish & Game Director Jerry Conley
and a group of other prominent sportsmen today at a press conference
decrying a proposed law in Congress that would force the sale of
public lands to pay for Hurricane Katrina and other disaster response
- with a priority on selling land in states like Idaho. The bill is
co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Butch Otter, Brady's Republican opponent
in the race to become Idaho's next governor.<br>
<br>
"I've been listening to Idahoans for eight months now, and not a
single one wanted to sell off Idaho's public lands," Brady said.
"Idahoans like their public land just the way it is. This is not
Democrats versus Republicans. This is too important for politics. It
goes to the heart of why we live in Idaho."<br>
<br>
Otter's legislation, H.R. 3855, was introduced Sept. 21. It would
require the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to select 15 percent of the
land in the national forest system and sell it off, and the Secretary
of the Interior to do the same for Interior lands, excluding national
parks. "Priority locations" are identified as those states where
the feds own more than 15 percent of the total land area.<br>
<br>
Idaho, of course, has massive amounts of federal land - 63.1 percent
of the state.<br>
<br>
Otter earlier made waves by voting against an emergency appropriation
for disaster relief for victims of Hurricane Katrina. At the time, he
said there wasn't enough accountability for the spending. But his
bill simply places the money in a fund for disaster relief, to
"cover or defray the costs of responding to a natural disaster or
terrorist attack."<br>
<br>
The bill, which is co-sponsored by 12 other House members, also
includes a moratorium on any new acquisitions of federal land.<br>
<br>
Brady said the best hunting and fishing land likely would be sold off
first.<br>
<br>
Jack Trueblood, a recently retired longtime Idaho Fish & Game
employee, said, "This is bad news for people who hunt and fish in
Idaho. Rep. Otter is showing us, as a congressman, what kind of
governor he would be. For sportsmen and women, this issue is important
enough to decide the governor's race."<br>
<br>
Still awaiting Otter's responseŠ<br>
</font><font face="Trebuchet MS" size="+2" color="#AAAAAA">Posted
by</font><font face="Trebuchet MS" size="+2" color="#717171">
Betsy</font><font face="Trebuchet MS" size="+2"
color="#AAAAAA"> | </font><font
face="Trebuchet MS" size="+2" color="#717171">19 Dec 3:19
PM</font></div>
<div><font face="Trebuchet MS" size="+2"
color="#717171"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="+3" color="#000000"><b>Congressman
responds<br>
<br>
</b></font><font face="Trebuchet MS" size="+2"
color="#000000">Here's Otter's response. He doesn't say anything
about the impact of his public land-sale bill on hunting, fishing, or
other public access.<br>
<br>
"I find it interesting that, at a time when many local governments
are struggling to make ends meet, some would oppose an effort to
restore to local property tax rolls and Idaho-based stewardship some
carefully selected parcels of the nearly two-thirds of Idaho that is
controlled - and too often locked up from multiple use - by the
federal government. Even as an absentee landlord, the federal
government has a responsibility to pay its fair share. This proposal
is a responsible option to consider when counties in Idaho routinely
are shortchanged by millions of dollars on PILT payments and the
government is failing to maintain such facilities as the backcountry
airstrips needed for emergency response. It also might be worth asking
where the criticism was when the federal government sold large
portions of the Boise Foothills to the city of Boise. Are such
transfers only valid when they are proposed by self-appointed
conservationists, and not by those who espouse the broader concept of
multiple-use stewardship?"</font></div>
<div><font face="Trebuchet MS" size="+2" color="#AAAAAA">Posted
by</font><font face="Trebuchet MS" size="+2" color="#717171">
Betsy</font><font face="Trebuchet MS" size="+2"
color="#AAAAAA"> | </font><font
face="Trebuchet MS" size="+2" color="#717171">19 Dec 4:02
PM</font></div>
</body>
</html>