All public land being sold, we need your help!

[cwelaw]

As some of you might be aware, the House of Reps. passed a bill which will allow for the privatization of all of the federal lands in Colorado. They are literally selling it for $1000 per acre to anyone who wants to buy it. This land includes: National Forest Land and BLM land. Put simply, much of the open/undeveloped land in Colorado which contains our rivers, 14ers, forests... all of the places we go to get away from this foul yuppieized bullshit society. The bill is not yet law, it needs to pass the conference committee. So all of you should go to this website:

actionnetwork.org/campaign/publiclands_senate -- and fill out the information to send our senators a letter explaining your concern. The website has a pre-written letter that you can send, but I changed it to be a little more Colorado specific and to drive the message home. You can use it if you want, it is listed below. Please take this seriously, it is not bullshit.

Letter: I am writing out of grave concern with the mining provisions in the budget reconciliation bill that was adopted by the House of Representatives.

As a life-long Coloradian I am deeply concerned that the mining reform will literally destroy all that makes Colorado special: the mass privatization of the federal lands. A brief glance at a public lands map clearly shows all of the land that is protected and preserved by the federal government in Colorado. I worry that much of this land will be raped by developers. As it is, Colorado is straining to sustain the population explosion of the last decade; this reform will bring that explosion to the very places that make Colorado the best place to live in the United States, the open and undeveloped National Forest and BLM lands.

If the purpose of the Congress is to truly aid in the development of hard rock minerals in the United States, a more narrow provision which restrains the privatization for bona fide mining operations is needed. Please consider the long term effects of this broad-sweeping land sale for Colorado.