Guest Columnists: Keep public involved in sale of our land

Buried in the 680-page bill was language that lifts an 11-year moratorium on the patenting, or sale, of public lands to mining companies, and appears to pave the way for the sale of public lands to mining companies and other development interests for as little as $1,000 per acre.

In fact, no one is certain whether the land-sale provisions of the bill, as its sponsors suggest, is limited to several hundred thousand acres. Or, if those who oppose the bill are correct, and the amount of public land that might be sold is in the millions of acres. Equally unclear is whether the bill would allow only for the sale of already mined areas or if it could include portions of national parks, wilderness and wildlife refuges.

What is certain is that, as of this moment, all the people of the United States own every single acre of public land. This is a birthright that should not be gambled on legislation passed in the dark of the night with an essential absence of any public notice.

For 30 years, Congress reaffirmed the notion that public lands should remain in public hands. The House changes are too little understood and too potentially dramatic to be made without well-publicized hearings, testimony relative to all sides of the issue and public involvement that would ensure that the people of the United States, the owners of those lands, are fully involved in the decisions.

There are few decisions that Congress makes that have irreversible consequences. Selling off our public land legacy is one that does. In our nation's youth, there was much land in the public domain and little capital. The nation was built largely by using land in place of standard sources of capital to be mixed with the sweat equity of pioneers. As our nation matured, such visionaries as John Muir, Gifford Pinchot and Theodore Roosevelt saw the wisdom of retaining a large portion of the rapidly diminishing public domain in the common ownership of the people.

From such visionaries and the thousands of conservationists who acted on their insights came the public's lands of today. Most of these lands were, initially, of little perceived value. And so they remained for decades. Such lands, owned by all the people, are rare in the world and are destined to become even rarer and infinitely more valuable as human population, gross national product and land values soar.

Some believe that something so valuable should not be owned by all U.S. citizens but should instead be devolved into other ownership or corporate control. To be certain, it is the prerogative of members of Congress to change laws as they see fit in the best interest of their constituents. And it is our duty as citizens to ensure they know our views before they vote. Legislation that has the potential to remove public lands from public hands should be brought to a vote only after a full and vigorous debate.

The management of public lands has always been a matter of intense debate. We believe that such debate is both healthy and helpful. In fact, we believe the 1872 Mining Law, which governs mining on public lands, has long been outdated and is in serious need of complete overhaul to bring it more in line with contemporary values and knowledge.

But that debate, and future debates, can and will occur only so long as public lands remain in public ownership. Shortly, the public land sales provisions that passed the House will be considered in a conference between House and Senate. We urge all those who treasure public lands to contact the House and Senate leadership and their members of Congress and urge them to strip out the provisions of the bill that allow for the sale of public lands -- the heritage of future generations.

Then let the debate relative to the provisions of the 1872 Mining Act begin in full light of public scrutiny.

Mike Dombeck and Jack Ward Thomas are former chiefs of the U.S. Forest Service. Dombeck is a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and Thomas is a professor at the University of Montana-Missoula.

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