FEDERAL LAND CONTROL ESCALATES BY 1.8 MILLION ACRES
Juliet Eilperin, of the Washington Post, in an article carried by the Plain Dealer, reported that President Obama issued an executive order, thereby bypassing Congress again.
The order involves Mohave Trails, Sand to Snow, and Castle Mountains in southern California. It nearly doubles the amount of land the president has unilaterally "protected" as "Desert Preserves" while in office.
This recent action makes a total of nearly 10 million acres of arid land, which will become the second largest desert preserve in the world.
The GOP has been pushing for a similar bill which would have preserved the lands, but made them subject to extensive federal review to which other land use plans must conform.
Rob Bishop, Republican of Utah, and Chairman of the House National Resources Committee, called it "presidential bullying", and said "It's an authoritarian act that ignores people under the guise of preservation."
I'm old enough to remember when the policy of our government was to allow people to settle, farm, and own undeveloped land. Settlers were admired.
Twenty years ago, one third of the land in our country was owned by one government or another. I'm sure that the balance has now shifted even further against private land ownership.
Would it now make sense to just dissolve congress, and let the executive branch have all the power?
| Marty Griffith |