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September
18, 2009
The
Honorable Martin Heinrich
U.S. House of Representatives
1505 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Dear
Representative Heinrich:
We are writing to add our
support to H.R. 3339, a bill to reauthorize the Federal Land
Transaction and Facilitation Act (FLTFA). A large number of
national conservation groups sent you a letter of support on July
28, 2009 and we would like to add our voice to that letter.
As described in the July
28 letter, FLTFA has proven to be very successful in acquiring high
priority lands for conservation, outdoor recreation, and historic
preservation. We believe the reauthorization of the Act as set out
in your legislation will continue to enhance the management of
America’s public lands.
One provision of the Act,
in particular, which we strongly support is the concept of “land for
land.” We believe it is important to retain public lands in public
ownership as envisioned in the Federal Land Policy and Management
Act (FLPMA).
We also believe the bill
could be strengthened by adding a provision enabling funds raised
through the sale of Forest Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, and
National Park Service lands to be added to the FLTFA account. We
recognize that such sales are less frequent than sales of BLM land
but enactment of such a provision would enhance the benefits of the
Act.
The Public Lands
Foundation is a nonprofit national organization incorporated in 1987
to support keeping public lands in public hands, embracing multiple
use management of BLM lands as prescribed by FLPMA, and following
sound environmental principles. We are a membership organization
whose members are predominantly retired former employees of the BLM.
As such, our membership represents a broad spectrum of knowledge and
experience in public land management.
Finally, we would like to
thank you very much for taking the lead on reauthorizing this
important piece of legislation. If there is anything we can do to
help move this bill forward, please let us know.
Sincerely
yours,
/s/
George Lea
George
Lea, President
Identical
letter to:
The Honorable Cynthia
Lummis
U.S. House of
Representatives
1004
Longworth House Office Building
Washington,
DC 20515 |