I just read Sen. Mike Lee’s (R-Utah) speech of June 29 at the Sutherland Institute outlining his three-point plan to transfer the public lands to private ownership. Senator Lee refers to our public lands as “The King’s Lands.” He states, and I quote, that “the federal government’s vast estate is preserved for the enjoyment of the very few: For an upper-crust elite who want to transform the American West into so many picturesque tourist villages and uninhabited vistas.”
The citizens I see and meet on public lands while snowmobiling, traveling on ATVs, hunting, fishing, hiking, mountain biking and back-country skiing are the furthest thing from “an upper-crust elite.” Those wonderful days spent on public lands will become a thing of the past if Sen. Lee’s type of thinking prevails. I am absolutely amazed at the fault of his logic in calling public lands “The King’s Lands.” Just the opposite is true.
I am an average person and can enter any national forest or BLM land. If they are privatized, there will be nothing but “NO TRESPASSING” signs in place of open gates. Where I grew up in Pennsylvania, that’s all we had was “NO TRESPASSING” signs.
Stand up for our public lands! Write to Rep. Scott Tipton and Sens. Gardner and Bennet. Please go to www.lee.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/speeches to see Sen. Lee’s speech.
Andrew J. Mcauley
Durango
