Don’t sell our wilderness land to pay for Bush’s budget

You would think that George W. has already done enough to turn our wilderness into private profit centers for big business. Now he wants to sell off 300,000 acres of forest land to help fund his budget shortfalls.

The land that he wants to sell belongs to the American people. Once it’s sold, it’s gone forever. It will be in the hands of private interests. The Bush administration says that the land planned for sale is non-vital land. This “non-vital” land includes 85,000 acres in California, ranging from 90 acres in the Angeles National Forest to 32,921 acres in the Klamath National Forest in Northern California.

Most of us will probably never visit these wilderness areas that Bush wants to take from us. But in our psyche we know that they’re there for us and our future generations. We are no less connected to the land than the bobcats and hawks that call our Santa Monica mountains home.

The problem is that too many Americans have lost that connection and have become indifferent towards what is left of our wilderness. This indifference empowers Bush to serve his own interests and the interest of his corporate sponsors.

Don’t let Bush sell our land. There is no reason why the world’s biggest economic power should have to sell off our public lands to make ends meet. We can’t stand by and do nothing as our wilderness is being taken from us. Contact the United States Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management online and let them know how you feel. Mark Rackow Agoura Hills