Conveying land in and out of federal ownership is not a new thing. Land sales are a sensitive proposition and they have to be done carefully. |
Due to the lack of snow and rain, very dry conditions extend from Florida to Virginia, where an active fire season is likely this spring. |
Land sales are a sensitive issue, and the public will have an opportunity to comment on the proposal. Then, we will revise the list one more time before transmitting it to Congress. |
Our objective … will be to give everyone involved the ability to look at each and every tract (of land proposed for sale), to satisfy themselves if they want to, that these tracts are worthy of what we are proposing. |
Some of the sites in question...do not any longer meet national forest system needs, but that's not the same as not meeting public needs generally. |
The act provided guaranteed payments to rural counties for road maintenance and schools. |
The Forest Service has had an active land acquisition program for the last 50 years at the end of the day, the size of Forest Service holdings will continue to grow. |
The quickest way to provide permanent protection is through the development of state-specific rules, not by resuscitating the 2001 rule, |
The supporters have been far quieter than the people who have found problems with it. |
There aren't $800 million worth of funding cuts that we could find, which is why we are looking at this as a revenue raiser. |
They are isolated, expensive to manage, and no longer necessary to meet the needs of U.S. Forest Service goals. |
This issue we are trying to address is a national issue. Inevitably, when we try to address an issue nationally, you're going to create some differences among the states. |
We estimate it will take 150,000 to 200,000 acres to meet the offset. |
We want everyone to be comfortable with every half-acre that stays on the list. |
We will probably drop some tracts from the candidate list. |