Let’s give the Grand Canyon to Disney Corporation
During the Republican National Convention in July, many were appalled to see that language supporting the transfer (a.k.a. giveaway, theft… etc.) of federal public lands was included in the official party platform. Many of us were uncertain whether this was serious. The answer appears to be yes. On its very first day, the new 115th Congress voted in favor of legislation by Utah Representative Rob Bishop to promote the transfer of public lands.
He posted the link to a story by Rich Landers at the [Spokane] Spokesman-Review:
The 115th Congress got off to an eye-opening start on Tuesday, looking to reduce outside ethics oversight and then voting in favor of facilitating transfers of some federal public lands and waters to state, local and private interests.
The vote, largely along party lines as part of a rules package, showed support for recalculating the costs of public lands transfers and easing current restrictions for shifting their oversight to individual states or private interests.
Backcountry Hunters & Anglers is one group criticizing the measure, introduced by Rep. Rob Bishop of Utah, and strongly criticized House members who voted in support of it.
The provision would designate any transfer legislation “budget neutral,” eliminating existing safeguards against undervaluing public lands, disregarding any revenue or economic benefits currently generated and paving the way for quick and discreet giveaways of valuable lands and waters – including national forests, wildlife refuges and BLM lands – historically owned by the American people.
It’s like a caricature of right-wing shittiness – giving away public lands to private interests. You’d think even the most far-right of right-wingers would be able to grasp the value of keeping some land public.
Updating to add:
They included a telling photo and caption:
Ryan Bundy, son of the Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, rides an ATV into Recapture Canyon north of Blanding, Utah on Saturday, May 10, 2014, in a protest against what demonstrators call the federal government’s overreaching control of public lands. The area has been closed to motorized use since 2007 when an illegal trail was found that cuts through Ancestral Puebloan ruins. The canyon is open to hikers and horseback riders. (Trent Nelson / The Salt Lake Tribune)
That’s what they stand for – the “right” to drive destructive machines onto public lands that are officially closed to motorized use because of the presence of Ancestral Puebloan ruins. They stand for: FUCK YOU I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT.
Let’s just turn the US into one big amusement park, for profit of course, complete with huge piles of trash and gaudy lights. In fact, why don’t we make the entire country into one giant Trump Tower, or Trump Casino, and slap the orange one’s name on it for everyone to see what it means for America to be great.
God, I hope the lizard aliens get here and annihilate us all soon. We certainly don’t deserve this planet.
Oh, by the way, Ophelia, since you’re interested in this, if you haven’t read “Grand Canyon” by Percival Everett, it’s a must read.
There was a great show on the BBC last night about Yellowstone. An amazing place I’d love to visit. I half-joked to Mrs Latsot that I’d better do it quickly before Trump sold it. It wasn’t very funny when I said it and it sounds even less funny now.
I was planning my wedding during the 2000 election. My (now) husband wanted to know where I wanted to go on honeymoon. I told him that depended on the outcome of the election. He said, oh, you don’t want to go to any state that voted Bush? I said no, if Bush is elected, I want to go to Alaska so I can see the glaciers and other neat things before they are all destroyed by climate change. (We didn’t go to Alaska; I couldn’t take off long enough for the trip).
@Ink:
I became married to Mrs Latsot in 1999. We went to Italy for our honeymoon. We stayed in a hotel on the top of a mountain overlooking the sea. There was a winding path from the hotel down to the bay through a lemon grove. It was just about the most perfect, quiet, beautiful place where we could devote ourselves to each other, for once, without the encroachment of work or family or things like that. And we certainly did.
I found out at the weekend that Mrs Latsot has basically forgotten the entire thing, including ever being in Italy. She remembers a few bits and pieces but not the honeymoon as a whole. She seems to remember some parts of someone else’s holiday in Italy but not ours. Unlike the lemons, I am not bitter.
People are weird.