Administration Proposes Sell-off of Forest Service Land to Reduce Defiecit

This photo indicates the kind of terrain which is being destroyed for phosphate mining in SE Idaho. Selenium poisoning in nearby creeks makes the fish unconsumable by humans.

The wild and pristine lands of southeast Idaho make up some of the most important and biologically diverse areas in the entire Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

The Smoky Canyon phosphate mine in southeast Idaho is so contaminated by selenium, a toxic element resulting from mining, that the federal government has designated it a Superfund site.

The Forest Service is in charge of getting the site cleaned up, yet that agency appears to be more interested in protecting the owner of the Smoky Canyon Mine, the J. R. Simplot Company, than protecting the public's health, and the fish, water and wildlife of Greater Yellowstone. Even the Forest Service's own expert on selenium contamination is critical of the Forest Service's plans. Dr. Dennis Lemly has pointed out in his comments:

"As currently proposed, the (cleanup steps) are not adequate to protect sensitive species of fish and wildlife from selenium toxicity."

This Forest Service land (green, below "18") just 15 miles north of Yellowstone Park could have been sold to the highest bidder under the Administration's budget plan.

Land Sale Dead in Committee

On May 9, 2006 the House Appropriations Committee killed legislation that would have authorized a plan to sell national forest and Bureau of Land Management lands.

Greater Yellowstone Coalition members and e-activists generated over 2190 comments to members of congress and over 1300 comments to the Forest Service expressing opposition to the land grab proposal. Thank you!

The national forest land sale was proposed by the Bush administration as a source of revenue to allow reauthorization of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Act. The BLM land sale was proposed to help offset our national debt.

The land-sale proposal involved about 300,000 acres of national forest lands. The sale list was made up of tracts that were considered isolated, difficult and expensive to manage, and “no longer meet national forest system needs,” according to Mark Rey, Undersecretary of Agriculture.

The proposal was met with furious opposition from citizens and Western lawmakers, and was quickly withdrawn from consideration by the Congressional sub-committee charged with reviewing these

Visit our webpage on this issue to see just how damaging it could have been.