Public Land Sales
I share your concerns regarding the availability of lands to hunt, fish, and enjoy. As a kid I was fortunate to have the run of a number of private ranches for fishing, duck hunting, and deer hunting. Most of the old ranch families are now gone, the property has been bought by movie stars, or developers. So those lands are now closed to me. The other landowner ship that is rapidly changing is the private timberlands. Lands owned by corporate timber outfits are being logged down to the smallest pine, and knurly oak. After logging these lands are being sub divided not replanted, roads and homes are being built in these traditional open forest areas. In the old days gun clubs were common on private ranches, but they are spreading to the private timberlands. One side effect is that some of these lands share a road system with National Forest and BLM lands. The clubs are preventing access to these lands by posting armed members on public roads. While these members have the right to prevent trespass on private land they can be convicted of a felony if they take possession of public land and they are armed. Call the sheriff, do not take overt action. In one California County one man is dead, and another in jail over a right-of-way dispute. While it had nothing to do with hunting it shows things can get out of hand. In this case both people lost, one dead and the other is going to spend the reminder of his life in prision if convicted. As it is he has been behind bars for months.
I am fortunate that there is a lot of land in my State managed by the Forest Service and BLM. But the Bush administration has proposed selling lands administered by BLM, and the Forest Service (NF) across the Nation. As example the proposal includes NF lands in six Southern States, in Tennessee these lands are located in nine counties. Another example is in California where lands located in 19 Counties would be sold.
I was concerned about the proposed sale of these lands before the White House went public. A number of California Congressmen have close ties with the Real Estate Industry and support the sale of these lands. Before and after the White House went public I was writing letters to my Congressmen on the both sides of the aisle. One Congressmans reply to me was in conflict with a campaign brochure I received in the mail two days later. Clearly you have to watch what side of his mouth he is talking out of.
For years I have been a two-issue voter, basically pro-gun and law & order. But I am now a three-issue voter, pro-gun, law & order, and the retention of public hunting lands. As one of the little guys I cannot afford to spend thousands for trespass fees. As a kid I belonged to a gun club. I killed a number of deer on that club. A few years later the land was sub divided by a bunch of lawyers. They attempted to get the County to give up its road right-of-way across the mountain. This action would have landlocked BLM land. The locals put up a fight and brought an end to that issue. At least for the time being. Of course the lawyers put up No Trespassing signs on the road right of way and on the entrance to the BLM section.
Write your Congressman! They need to be reminded that there are a lot of American families that use public land and do not support the sale of those lands.