Thanks to the Herald for reporting on the corruption and true intentions of Ken Ivory, the head of the American Lands Council and congressional representative from Utah backing the efforts to seize our national public lands here in Colorado (May 31). Now that he’s being formally investigated for fraud – after funneling hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars through his “nonprofit” into his own coffers – maybe our elected officials will finally drop this land-grab nonsense.
How did Sen. Ellen Roberts, among other legislators, ever fall for Ivory’s sagebrush rebellion rhetoric? Did she really believe that someone taking thousands of dollars from the oil and gas industry would be doing anything but attempting to open up our lands for yet more development? And even if Roberts and Ivory really did just want more state control over our national lands (and let’s be clear – they belong to all Americans, not just Coloradans – how were we ever going to afford their management? Roberts is a smart and fiscally conservative. What in Colorado’s budget does she propose we cut to afford management of an additional 24 million acres of land?
In the end, opening the door for sell-offs has always been the point. I, for one, am glad the truth is finally coming out and we can all see what these land-grab efforts truly are: an effort to lock us out of our public lands so vital to our local economy and develop them for private profit. Let’s hope this is the end of this story in Colorado. Good riddance.
Heidi Marcum
Durango
