Flyover Land Grabs and Master Plans

"He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance."--T. Jefferson, Revolutionary

"When government does, occasionally, work, it works in an elitist fashion. That is, government is most easily manipulated by people who have money and power already. This is why government benefits usually go to people who don't need benefits from government. Government may make some environmental improvements, but these will be improvements for rich bird-watchers. And no one in government will remember that when poor people go bird-watching they do it at Kentucky Fried Chicken."--P.J. O'Rourke, 'All the Trouble in the World'

"It owns 85 percent of Nevada, 66 percent of Utah, 62 percent of both Idaho and Alaska, and 53 percent of Oregon. ...California and Wyoming, at 48 percent each; Arizona, at 42 percent; Colorado, at 36 percent; New Mexico, at 35 percent; Montana, at 29 percent; and Washington state, at 28 percent."

But that's not quite enough for some Kenyans with minions.

CNSNews.com) – "As the Obama Administration comes to a close, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is pushing ahead with its plan to restrict more federal land from future mining operations by putting 10 million acres in six states off limits. ...The announcement about the restrictions on land in Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming, which was published in the Federal Register on Friday, said a 90-day public comment period will take place until March 30, 2017 and that the agency will host eight public meetings in the West next month. ...
The agency said the move is part of its effort to protect the Greater Sage-Grouse even as it decided not to list the bird under the Endangered Species Act.".......

So if the Sage Grouse is endangered, they'll remove these lands from use. And if it isn't endangered...they'll still remove these lands from use!

"This massive land withdrawal, the largest in history, is a spiteful and wholly unnecessary measure for protecting wildlife habitat that isn’t jeopardized by mining and appears instead to be a parting gift to activists who care nothing for the economic consequences to either the impacted states or the economy,” Popovich told CNSNews.com.".......

Washington Times: “This is just flat-out wrong,” said House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop, Utah Republican. “If the administration really cares about the bird, they will adopt the state plans as they originally said they would. The state plans work. This proposal is only about controlling land, not saving the bird.”.......

Meanwhile, back at the Bears Ears Ranch...

“That would functionally undo 99.9 percent of what Obama did."

Washington Examiner: "Utah officials are vowing to sue President Obama over Wednesday's designation of a new national monument in the state while working with the incoming Trump administration to rescind it.

"My office is working closely with the governor's office, federal and state legislators, and San Juan County to file a lawsuit challenging this egregious overreach by the Obama administration," Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes said late last night.".......

Ooops: Sen. Hatch: "If you're going to take 1.3M acres of Utah land, at least use the right photo. This is Arches not #BearsEars."

 

Rep. Chaffetz: "Classic. @WhiteHouse pic is Arches not monuments. Couldn't find a pic of Bears Ears & doesn't even know where it is. #WorstPresidentEver ".......

Trust Utahans, not Obamians

One Flyover State looks like another from the Imperial Seat in D.C.--and this mistaken geography has become a Democrat tradition:

A NEW MONUMENT IN S. UTAH? RUMORS FLY AS CLINTON PLANS TALK

"President Clinton will visit the Grand Canyon Wednesday and will use the scenic backdrop for an "environmental event," a White House spokesman said Friday.

Today's edition of the Arizona Republic reports speculation by the Grand Canyon Trust that the "event" might be designating 1.8 million acres in southern Utah as the Canyons of the Escalante National Monument."

Clinton and Gore sprang this on Utah in 1996--and they did it from Arizona! Removing this very clean coal from the market also happened to greatly benefit another clean coal source in Indonesia, run by the Riady/Lippo Group, mega-contributors to the Clintons. Surprise, surprise.

These new decrees come on the heels of Obama's single-handed confiscation of vast swaths of Hawaiian waters this summer, big-footing the locals and knee-capping Hawaii's fishermen.

"Don't mind us--we just live and work here."

All this imperial overreach by our Monarch Butterfly is why Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence in the first place.

Daniel Webster put it this way: "It is hardly too strong to say that the Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters."

And Master Planners.