Friday, April 08, 2011
Interior chief warns of broad shutdown impact
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Thursday that a government shutdown would have significant effects on the public and businesses in the department's orbit. Salazar, in a memo to Interior employees Thursday, described the consequences of the partial shutdown that will occur if there’s no spending deal struck before the current stopgap measure expires Friday. He writes: “For the American people, a shutdown of the Department of the Interior’s services would disrupt everything from family vacations and small businesses that rely on tourism to renewable energy projects. Visitors to America’s national parks, wildlife refuges, and BLM public lands will be turned away. Most U.S. Geological Survey scientific work, data collection and analysis will be halted. And many economic and social programs administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs will temporarily cease.” A shutdown, which Salazar expressed hope will be avoided, would also harm tens of thousands of department employees, he said...more
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2 comments:
Bull pucky. Nobody is going to shut down the BLM lands or Forest service lands. My property borders BLM and I am out there every single day doing whatever I please. In the 20 years I have lived there I have never seen a BLM person. Gov. scare tactics.
At first glance the promise to prohibit visitor use of public lands sounded like it was designed to scare us. On the other hand the US Supreme Court has defined public lands as those that are completely controlled by the government with no private rights attached. Salazar was accidentally accurate when he said he would keep us off of federal enclaves (public lands).
A study in Nevada shows that there are very few areas in this state that are public land in spite of the feds claiming control of 90%. Most of the state includes the locations of water rights, rights of ways, and easements that by definition are protected in federal law as valid existing rights. That means the BLM and FS lands do not meet the definition of public lands found in federal laws.
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