OCR Text |
Show 3. It should be evident that what some ardent backers of the Sagebrush Rebellion seek is an easy avenue to transfer land from public to private ownership. Few states would find it feasible to manage these big areas soundly. They could be forced to sell it off, piece by piece. It could be a means of giving special economic interests their opportunity to profit. There is no good guarantee that the public will share or be compensated, antflKerels great danger that the land. Eridjthe people will suffer jas aTesuTtof spe~cialinterest efforts to reap short-term' profits without concern for the future. - State officials, regardless of good intentions, v.ould find it hard to resist the overwhelming pressures to sell off the~public lands. In some cases, state officials would have little choice. For example, in Idaho the State Constitution says state lands must be managed for the highest return to the school endowment fund. If they followed that to the letter, as the State Land Board must do, it would mean a lot of these lands would be sold, or leased for harvest - either timber or mineral. Eventually, the land would be carved up, fenced and posted where it is now generally open to public uses, both recreational and economic. State efforts to take over management of public lands - if they genuinely tried to manage the lands - would be devastating to slate treasuries. It is doubtful that, in this time when taxpayers are more than a little restless, the state governments will be willing or able to levy the taxes tc assume the costs of management now borne by the Federal government. Even the leading state officials in land management have conceded privately that the burden would be overwhelming. |