Number: 1984-28
WHEREAS, the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service and various other federal agencies have responsibilities affecting millions of acres of federal lands which represent a birthright of the American people and have highly significant public values of watershed protection, wildlife habitat, erosion control, public recreation and scenic and cultural attributes; and
WHEREAS, the land disposal program of the Administration has shifted from outright land sales to land exchanges for the announced purpose of “blocking up” public land holdings to achieve lower administrative costs; and
WHEREAS, Western States with substantial amounts of public land have or may have proposals to present to Congress to move large amounts of public land into state ownership for various purposes including selling the land to private interests; and
WHEREAS, the National Wildlife Federation supports the existing Congressional policy of retention of public lands and the procedures of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act for disposal and exchange of public lands; and
WHEREAS, the sale or exchange of public lands without due regard for public access, fish and wildlife and recreational values constitutes an irretrievable loss to all citizens of this nation as part of their national heritage;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation, in annual meeting assembled March 15-18, 1984, in Atlanta, Georgia, opposes the sale or exchange of federally managed public lands by the Bureau of Land Management or the U.S. Forest Service without full consideration of public access, fish and wildlife, and recreational values; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, to the fullest extent practicable, the sale or exchange of federal lands having significant public access, fish and wildlife and recreational values to a state should take place only where it can be assured that those values will be maintained and that those federal lands will not be subsequently conveyed by the state to private parties for private purposes; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that federal lands with a key or unique fish and wildlife or recreational values should be exchanged only if, as a result of the exchange, there will be a net gain in those values to the public; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation opposes the sale or exchange of public lands except where the sale or exchange takes place after full and adequate public notice, review and comment.