Bishop Expresses Concern Over BLM and Forest Service Budgets

During Congressional hearings today, Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah), expressed disagreement with the proposed budgets for the Forest Service and BLM, especially on the issue of federal land acquisition.

The main points made by Bishop:

· The President’s budget includes $230 million and $50 million for land acquisition for the U.S. Forest Service and BLM respectively.
· The Forest Service budget cuts funding for essential programs such as those dedicated to wildfire suppression and for the continued access and operation of our forests solely to free-up funds for land acquisition.
· The BLM budget includes an increase of $15 million over FY 2011 levels for the duplicative National Landscape and Conservation System (NLCS).
· The BLM budget diverts critical land management funds to the Secretary’s newly created “Wild Lands” program
· After millions of dollars were spent traveling the country to promote the President’s “America’s Great Outdoors” initiative, the only tangible result from the meetings seem to be a report recommending more land acquisition. The requested $50 for the BLM is a $20 million increase over the previous fiscal year.

For my previous posts on Obama's property-grabbing virus go here, here and here.