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When thousands of people donate no more than $100 per person per election, we can build a campaign without money from special interests. _______________________ But it's about more than money. We need your energy and your enthusiasm, too. Sign up to volunteer on Jim Hansen's campaign for Congress.
 _______________________ 
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| Jim's statement on economic development and wilderness |
592 Views |
| posted on Wednesday, July 19, 2006 |
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The name of the Central Idaho Economic Development and Recreation Act, approved by the House Resource Committee today, is deceptive. It will do nothing to provide rural communities with meaningful, long-term economic support.
The bill’s wilderness component protects 312,000 acres of virtually undisputed land in the Boulder-White Clouds, but this long-overdue protection has been held hostage by bad policy, such as transferring public land to private interests. The legislation gives away thousands of acres of public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management and the Sawtooth National Recreation Area.
As much as I support wilderness protection for the Boulder-White Cloud region of Idaho, I do not believe that Congress should raise funds for cash-starved rural areas by giving away and selling off the nation’s assets. Public lands should not be seen as a bank account that Congress can tap into when the nation -- currently staggering under the weight of the biggest national debt in history -- runs short of money.
A better idea is to invest in local communities by providing more federal support for the schools, roads, transportation systems and infrastructure these small towns need to attract new economic development and enlarge their tax base.
Congress is starting a trend away from protecting public lands in the West. For years, Western Congressmen fought to preserve open space. Now we see some of them allowing it to move into the hands of wealthy, private, out-of-state interests.
Local residents may disagree on how best to use public lands, but I have found that one thing remains constant in all the small towns I have visited: People want public land to stay public. After they go private, the community no longer has a say in how those lands are used and managed and people lose access to lands they love for hunting, fishing, camping and outdoor recreation.
I am limiting contributions to my campaign to $100 from individuals only, not corporations or political action committees, to ensure that important decisions like this remain in the hands of Idahoans.
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