Privatization/Disposition of Public Lands

Number: 2006-03

 

WHEREAS, public lands provide both seasonal and year-round habitat for a large number of wildlife species, including some of those listed as threatened or endangered; and

WHEREAS, public lands provide millions of recreation days for millions of people, including the activities of hunting, fishing, trapping, hiking and camping; and

WHEREAS, these recreational activities on public lands greatly enhance the quality of life for local residents as well as for citizens around the country; and

WHEREAS, numerous people, businesses and communities rely on, or benefit from, the income generated, directly or indirectly, from such recreation on public lands; and

WHEREAS, public lands provide jobs from timbering, grazing leases and other economic benefits gained from the responsible use of the sustainable resources on those public lands; and

WHEREAS, public lands are irreplaceable public resources; and

WHEREAS, the privatization and/or the disposition of public lands would most likely preclude the public from garnering the above benefits of the public lands as well as have serious negative consequences for the wildlife using those public lands; and

WHEREAS, efforts have increased to privatize public lands either by direct legislation or by amending the 1872 Mining Law in a manner that would allow public lands to be sold to private individuals and entities for potential exploitation and development, without undergoing the necessary evaluations or required opportunities for public input as directed under the NEPA process;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation, at its annual meeting assembled March 17-18, 2006, in New Orleans, Louisiana, does hereby oppose the privatization and/or disposition of federal public lands by changes in existing laws governing the management or disposal of federal lands, including but not limited to lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and the United States Forest Service; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation supports the goal of “no net loss” of federal public lands and opposes the privatization and/or disposition of lands through land exchanges unless the fish and wildlife and recreational values of the lands acquired clearly exceed those of the lands lost.