Maybe its time for Barrasso and Lummis to pack their bags.

From the CST:

Barrasso and Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyoming, did not oppose the original proposal, though Republican senators from Montana and Idaho did. But Wyoming’s congressional delegation heard concerns from a range of constituents. State Rep. Andrew Byron, R-Hoback, is among the Teton County residents making their voices heard opposing the proposed federal public lands sale.

Byron overnighted two letters to Barrasso and Lummis on Friday and emailed their chiefs of staff . By Saturday afternoon, he was on the phone with Barrasso. He said he has yet to receive a response from Lummis and her office.

Byron said Tuesday that he and Barrasso had a productive conversation, but the senator “downplayed” the concerns brought to him. Although Barrasso didn’t reveal his position on the public lands sale, Byron said Barrasso didn’t share his sense of urgency.

They're disregarding the voters.  

Send them home if they don't correct this.

They're counting on us forgetting this, and there's some outside incentive, or fear, for them ignoring us.  We need to be the bigger incentive, and they need to fear for their positions and reputations.

Related threads:

Wyoming's broken politics.

Labels: 119th Congress, 2020s, 2025, Cynthia Lummis, Democratic Party, Francis Warren, Harriet Hageman, John Barrasso, Politics, Public Land, Republican Party, The Amos Barber Effect, Wyoming

Utah, you have a lot of explaining to do for electing Mike Lee.

Labels: Michael Lee, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Politics, Populism, Public Land, Utah

Utah, you have a lot of explaining to do for electing Mike Lee.

WTF Utah?

When Mike Lee isn't busy promoting taking public lands from the public, he apparently launches into all the dimwitted far right stuff he conceivably can.

And makes absurd statements about murders.

Utah, make this guy go home, or at least get him out of Congress.

As Wyoming protests, public land sell-off ‘just getting started’ - WyoFile

As Wyoming protests, public land sell-off ‘just getting started’ - WyoFile: Utah senator trims plans, calling targeted BLM land “unused,” “mismanaged” and “only appropriate for housing.”

Friday, June 26, 2015: Obergefell v. Hodges

June 26, 2015: Obergefell v. Hodges

Only a decade?  

It seems like a lot longer.

I felt at the time, and I still do, that the Obergefell decision was an absolute disaster.  It was legally deficient in its reasoning, which was pathetic.  Justice Kennedy's text failed to grasp the existential nature of marriage, but perhaps that was understandable as Kennedy, currently 88 years old, was in his 20s and 30s in the 1960s.  Indeed, he turned 30 in 1966, by which time Americans were well on their way to forgetting what the biological purpose of sex is, and what the nature of marriage is.

Kennedy's opinion embraced a sort of Age of Aquarius sense of "love" being the reason for marriage, at its core root.  Love is an aspect of marriage, hopefully, and there's a lot to that, but sex is as well and the type that leads to children, at least frequently.  Indeed, the entire institution and everything about it is oriented in that direction.

That has very little to do with homosexuality in that unions between the same gender don't result in children.  I know the arguments about adoption and the like, but that's fairly far from the point as well.  Indeed, in a way, that gets into the following topic about IVF that we covered recently.

IVF and a Half-Cath | June 11, 2025

Something that the generation that came of age after World War Two really brought into the culture is sort of the opposite of the Rolling Stone's skifflesque You Can't Always Get What You Want.  That generation pretty much got almost all of what they wanted, and still are.  That sense of entitlement resulted in cultural self centeredness in which you are entitled to be what you want to be and everyone else has to darned well accept it and the consequences.

The problem was and is, however, that Obergefell, as it strayed so far from the law, and so far from where  the culture then was (it's a horrible example of the old trying to get ahead of the culture) that it was bound to spark a massive reaction.  And it did.

The populist right rage that developed soon after was already burning, but Obergefell poured gasoline on the fire.  The culture had lost much of the conservative wisdom on the nature of sex and marriage already, and had gone through Chesterton's fence with a bulldozer in this regard.  A culture that had accepted, prior to the early 1950s that sex was properly in marriage, and properly between married men and women, had gone to pretty much accepting that sex was entertainment and marriage was a celebration of love rather than a loving (hopefully) childrearing, economic, natural unit.  People basically forgot what their natures produced and men in particular figures that they were entitled to play around with Fran Geraud, and women figured they had to endure it.  And that's where we remain today.  A culture that basically thinks the Hawk Tuah Girl is amusing rather than a tramp.

But once that moral decay had reached the point where people who could excuse their own conduct could imagine themselves to somehow still be good Christians suddenly were confronted with homosexuals making the same intellectual arguments, and that being adopted by the Supreme Court, it was just too much.

It was also clear, in spite of what Kennedy thought, that Obergefell was going to open the floodgates of radical sexual behavior.  Same sex sexual conduct, no matter what a person thinks of it, had been around for time immemorial, although it frankly even now is not really very well understood.  But transgenderism had not been, or at least not in the same fashion.  The groups backing the concept of transgenderism rushed into the field and gained ground enormously, which large numbers of people were not and are not willing to accept, including some homosexuals and included many feminists.  

That this was going to cause massive civil disintegration was obvious.  Disorganized groups on the right and middle that were already upset by the loss of industrial jobs and immigration now were faced with a massive social advance on the left which did not square with their basic understanding of themselves, and for good reason.  To add to it, it was forced upon them.

None of this was necessary.  Various states were moving towards various civil unions for homosexuals as it was.  The slow march of legislation would have brought about a change, whether it was a good one or not, at a pace that would have been accepted.  That's what happened to the disaster of no fault divorce.  Instead Kennedy's opinion forced it all, and more than he had anticipated, all at once.

It destroyed respect for the Court and gave traditionalists of all types massive pause.  It started the rush towards right wing populism which was already going on.

It lead directly to Donald Trump.

Related threads:

The Supreme Court tries a bit to mop up a dog's breakfast. Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission.

Labels: 2010s, 2015, 2018, Commentary, Court, law, Monday at the bar, Natural Law, Politics, The Law, The Old Law, trends

Why Americans, irrespective of position, ought to cringe over Obergefell

Labels: Commentary, law, Marriage, Monday at the bar, Politics, Sic transit Gloria Mundi, The Law, The Practice of Law, trends, You heard it here first

Tuesday, June 26, 1945. The United Nations Charter signed, Manhattan Project scientists worry, Marilyn appears in Yank,

The United Nations Conference on International Organization concluded with the United Nations Charter being signed at the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center by 50 of the 51 original member countries.

Poland was unable to send a delegation, and therefore did not sign.

While many people in the world were becoming optimistic about the post war world, the Manhattan Project scientists were getting worried.

And fighting in the Pacific was still going on, including mopping up operations on Okinawa, and new landings in the Ryukyus where Marines landed on Kume to establish a radar station.

The US dropped paratroopers near Aparri to link up with the 37th Infantry Division.

The Chinese army took Liuchow airfield.

The United States Army Air Force commenced B-29 raids at night against Japanese oil refineries.

Bombed Out Refinery, Nagoya Japan.

Bombed Out Refinery, Nagoya Japan. Early 1950s

A photograph taken by my father in Nagoya Japan, depicting refinery damage from World War Two.

Norma Jeane Dougherty, later known as Marilyn Monroe, appeared as the Yank centerfold.

The title of Generalissimo of the Soviet Union was introduced aand assigned next day assigned to I.V. Stalin, who declined to use it, favoring Marshall.

Last edition:

Monday, June 24, 1945. Brandenburg Ballerina.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, Australian Army, Babushka bomb, Berlin Germany, Borneo, Germany (Berlin), India, Ireland, Luzon, Military Police, Norway, Personalities, Politics, Red Army, United Kingdom, Women

Friday, June 26, 1925. The Gold Rush.

 

Released on this date in 1925.

The hotel in Browning, Montana, is still in business.

Last edition:

Sunday, June 21, 1925. Vietnamese Revolutionary Youth League

Labels: 1920s, 1925, 1929, China, Chinese Warlord Era, Communism, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

Why Are Federal Agents Wearing Masks? It’s a Threat to American Democracy Masked Federal Agents Are Undermining Trust—and Democracy

 

Why Are Federal Agents Wearing Masks? It’s a Threat to American Democracy

Masked Federal Agents Are Undermining Trust—and Democracy

Liz Cheney sends out a message to Democrats.

Via Robert Reich:

From Liz Cheney

Dear Democratic Party,

I need more from you.

You keep sending emails begging for $15,

while we’re watching fascism consolidate power in real time.

This administration is not simply “a different ideology.”

It is a coordinated, authoritarian machine — with the Supreme Court, the House, the Senate, and the executive pen all under its control.

And you?

You’re still asking for decorum and donations. WTF.

That won’t save us.

I don’t want to hear another polite floor speech.

I want strategy.

I want fire.

I want action so bold it shifts the damn news cycle — not fits inside one.

Every time I see something from the DNC, it’s asking me for funds.

Surprise.

Those of us who donate don’t want to keep sending money just to watch you stand frozen as the Constitution goes up in flames — shaking your heads and saying,

“Well, there’s not much we can do. He has the majority.”

I call bullshit.

If you don’t know how to think outside the box…

If you don’t know how to strategize…

If you don’t know how to fight fire with fire…

what the hell are we giving you money for?

Some of us have two or three advanced degrees.

Some of us have military training.

Some of us know what coordinated resistance looks like — and this ain’t it.

Yes, the tours around the country? Nice.

The speeches? Nice.

The clever congressional clapbacks? Nice.

That was great for giving hope.

Now we need action.

You have to stop acting like this is a normal presidency that will just time out in four years.

We’re not even at Day 90, and look at the chaos.

Look at the disappearances.

Look at the erosion of the judiciary, the press, and our rights.

If you do not stop this, we will not make it 1,460 days.

So here’s what I need from you — right now:

⸻

1. Form an independent, civilian-powered investigative coalition.

I’m talking experts. Veterans. Whistleblowers. Journalists. Watchdog orgs.

Deputize the resistance. Build a real-time archive of corruption, overreach, and executive abuse.

Make it public. Make it unshakable.

Let the people drag the rot into the light.

If you can’t hold formal hearings, hold public ones.

If Congress won’t act, let the country act.

This isn’t about optics — it’s about receipts.

Because at some point, these people will be held accountable.

And when that day comes, we’ll need every name, every signature, every illegal order, every act of silence—documented.

You’re not just preserving truth — you’re preparing evidence for prosecution.

The more they vanish people and weaponize data, the more we need truth in the sunlight.

⸻

2. Join the International Criminal Court.

Yes, I said it. Call their bluff.

You cannot control what the other side does.

But you can control your own integrity.

So prove it. Prove that your party is still grounded in law, human rights, and ethical leadership.

Join.

If you’ve got nothing to hide — join.

Show the world who’s hiding bodies, bribes, and buried bank accounts.

Force the GOP to explain why they’d rather protect a war criminal than sign a treaty.

And while you’re at it, publicly invite ICC observers into U.S. borders.

Make this administration explain — on camera — why they’re terrified of international oversight.

⸻

3. Fund state-level resistance infrastructure.

Don’t just send postcards. Send resources.

Channel DNC funds into rapid-response teams, legal defense coalitions, sanctuary networks, and digital security training.

If the federal government is hijacked, build power underneath it.

If the laws become tools of oppression, help people resist them legally, locally, and boldly.

This is not campaign season — this is an authoritarian purge.

Stop campaigning.

Act like this is the end of democracy, because it is.

We WILL REMEMBER the warriors come primaries.

Fighting this regime should be your marketing strategy.

And let’s be clear:

The reason the other side always seems three steps ahead is because they ARE.

They prepared for this.

They infiltrated school boards, courts, local legislatures, and police unions.

They built a machine while you wrote press releases.

We’re reacting — they’ve been executing a plan for years.

It’s time to shift from panic to blueprint.

You should already be working with strategists and military minds on PROJECT 2029,

a coordinated, long-term plan to rebuild this country when the smoke clears.

You should be publicly laying out:

• The laws and amendments you’ll pass to ensure this never happens again

• The systems you’ll tear down and the safeguards you’ll enshrine

• The plan to hold perpetrators of human atrocities accountable

• The urgent commitment to immediately bring home those sold into slavery in El Salvador

You say you’re the party of the people?

Then show the people the plan.

⸻

4. Use your platform to educate the public on rights and resistance tactics.

If they’re going to strip us of rights and lie about it — arm the people with truth.

Text campaigns. Mass trainings. Downloadable “Know Your Rights” kits. Multilingual legal guides. Encrypted phone trees.

Give people tools, not soundbites.

We don’t need more slogans.

We need survival manuals.

⸻

5. Leverage international media and watchdogs.

Stop hoping U.S. cable news will wake up.

They’re too busy playing both sides of fascism.

Feed the real stories to BBC, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, Reuters, Der Spiegel — hell, leak them to anonymous dropboxes if you have to.

Make what’s happening in America a global scandal.

And stop relying on platforms that are actively suppressing truth.

Start leveraging Substack. Use Bluesky.

That’s where the resistance is migrating. That’s where censorship hasn’t caught up.

If the mainstream won’t carry the truth — outflank them.

Get creative. Go underground. Go global.

If our democracy is being dismantled in broad daylight, make sure the whole world sees it — and make sure we’re still able to say it.

⸻

6. Create a digital safe haven for whistleblowers and defectors.

Not everyone inside this regime is loyal.

Some are scared. Some want out.

Build the channels.

Encrypted. Anonymous. Protected.

Make it easy for the cracks in the system to become gaping holes.

And while you’re at it?

Stop ostracizing MAGA defectors.

Everyone makes mistakes — even glaring, critical ones.

We are not the bullies.

We are not the ones filled with hate.

And it is not your job to shame people who finally saw the fire and chose to step out of it.

They will have to deal with that internal struggle — the guilt of putting a very dangerous and callous regime in power.

But they’re already outnumbered. Don’t push them back into the crowd.

We don’t need purity.

We need numbers.

We need people willing to burn their red hats and testify against the machine they helped build.

⸻

7. Study the collapse—and the comeback.

You should be learning from South Korea and how they managed their brief rule under dictatorship.

They didn’t waste time chasing the one man with absolute immunity.

They went after the structure.

The aides. The enforcers. The loyalists. The architects.

They knocked out the foundation one pillar at a time —

until the “strongman” had no one left to stand on.

And his power crumbled beneath him.

You should be independently investigating every author of Project 2025,

every aide who defies court orders,

every communications director repeating lies,

every policy writer enabling cruelty,

every water boy who keeps this engine running.

You can’t stop a regime by asking the king to sit down.

You dismantle the throne he’s standing on — one coward at a time.

⸻

Stop being scared to fight dirty when the other side is fighting to erase the damn Constitution.

They are threatening to disappear AMERICANS.

A M E R I C A N S.

And your biggest move can’t be another strongly worded email.

We don’t want your urgently fundraising subject lines.

We want backbone.

We want action.

We want to know you’ll stand up before we’re all ordered to sit down — permanently.

We are watching.

And I don’t just mean your base.

I mean millions of us who see exactly what’s happening.

I’ve only got 6,000 followers — but the groups I’m in? The networks I touch? Over a quarter million.

Often when I speak, it echoes.

But when we ALL

speak, it ROARS with pressure that will cause change.

We need to be deafening.

You still have a chance to do something historic.

To be remembered for courage, not caution.

To go down as the party that didn’t just watch the fall — but fought the hell back with everything they had.

But the clock is ticking.

And the deportation buses are idling.

Going Feral: What's the deal with Mike Lee?

Going Feral: What's the deal with Mike Lee?: 

What's the deal with Mike Lee?

Mike Lee is like the cook who keeps putting nuts in fudge.  You tell them it's an infamnia, but they insist on doing it anyway, and telling you that you'll like it.  

"It's only a few. . . ".  "They're not peanuts, they're walnuts. . . "  "You can pick them out. . . ".

It's disgusting, and you don't want it.

Lee went from aggressively trying to get a public land sales provision in the Big Ugly Bill only to meat a firestorm of opposition, from the right and left, about it.  Ultimately he started scaling it back before the Senate Parliamentarian pulled it, either because it was genuinely against Senate Rules or in order to keep people like John Barrasso from having to commit on it.

Lee, however, hasn't give up.  He's telling his opponents, which includes nearly everyone (but not Wyoming Congress woman Harriet Hageman) that he's "listened" and is coming back with a bill we'll all like.

Nobody is going to like this.

This is really bizarre at this point.  Lee is choosing a massively unpopular bill as his hill to die on, and politically, it might do that.  A former Utah Congressman went down in flames and had to resign over similar efforts a decade ago.

What's up with Lee?

Well, I have one theory I'll write another post on, on Lex Anteinternet.

But all the reasons given for this are, well, crap.

Things are changing, albeit slowly, in Utah.  Lee's seat is probably safe, but maybe not as safe as he thinks.  The seats of other Republicans supporting this idea are not safe.  Barrasso has laid low during the storm, Lummis came out for it early on, and Hageman is all in.  Hageman may very well have ended her political career by going so.

Suffice it to say, however, until the nut fudge gets thrown up against the wall and the cook loose cooking privildges, somebody is going to try to keep serving it.

Blog Mirror: Public land selloff proposal threatened Medicine Bow, continues to threaten other local parcels Laramie Rep. Karlee Provenza and Wyoming columnist Rod Miller are among the cross-partisan coalition planning to rally in Cheyenne on Thursday

 

Public land selloff proposal threatened Medicine Bow, continues to threaten other local parcels

Laramie Rep. Karlee Provenza and Wyoming columnist Rod Miller are among the cross-partisan coalition planning to rally in Cheyenne on Thursday

Going Feral: Blog Mirror: Former Governors Say Bipartisan Anger Over Public Land Sales Not Surprising

Going Feral: Blog Mirror: Former Governors Say Bipartisan Ange...:   

Blog Mirror: Former Governors Say Bipartisan Anger Over Public Land Sales Not Surprising

 

Former Governors Say Bipartisan Anger Over Public Land Sales Not Surprising

Tread lightly on our public land, politicians!

Tread lightly on our public land, politicians!: If Wyoming's congressional delegation continues to follow Trump's zeal to sell public lands in the West, they’ll face a political firestorm, writes columnist Rod Miller.

Monday, June 24, 1945. Brandenburg Ballerina.

Junior Sergeant Lydia Spivak (Лидия Спивак), Red Army Traffic Regulator, June 1945.  She became locally famous in this role and was tagged the Brandenburg Ballerina or The Mistress of Brandenburg Gate.  She would have been 19 or 20 years old at the time and had been in the Red Army since she was 17.  She was a Ukrainian, and served in a transportation unit.  Like most Red Army soldiers, not that much is known about her in the West and indeed she's often confused with another female Soviet soldier who served in the same role.  Having said that, this role did make her into a type of celebrity and she did resurface from time to time, including once in the 1950s when she toured the area in which this video was shot.*  She passed away at age 59.  This is a truncated interview, and there is more to it.  It was impromptu, which is impressive.

US forces took Tuguegarao and Gattaran on Luzon.

Australian forces completed the occupation of the Miro oilfield on Borneo.

The Simla Conference to discuss the future Indian government of India began in Simla, India.

Seán T. O'Kelly became 2nd President of Ireland and Einar Gerhardsen became Prime Minister of Norway.

Footnotes:

*Ms. Spivak by that time was aging rapidly. By the 50s she'd gained a lot of weight and by the time of her sad early death she had aged rapidly  by western standards and looked much older than her 59 years.  She was undeniably cute and lively in 1945, and in later photographs the liveliness seems undiminished in spite of her aging.  She achieved her original goal of becoming a teacher, and in fact became a university professor and married another professor

Spivak is often confused with Maria Limanskaya (Мария Лиманскаяwho) served in the same role in Berlin.  She was a Russian and lived to age 100, dying last year, although oddly enough in some ways had a harder post war life, marrying than divorcing her first husband, and raising two children for a time on her own.

Last edition:

Sunday, June 24, 1945. A parade in Moscow.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, USSR, World War Two

Blog Mirror: This Day in History: WWII's Ice Cream Barges

 

This Day in History: WWII's Ice Cream Barges

Public land — land of the free — defines Wyoming

Public land — land of the free — defines Wyoming: Wyoming is many things to many people, but public land is why they come and why they stay, writes guest columnist Chris Madson.

Lee cuts scope of Senate public lands sell-off plan amid setbacks, public opposition

Lee cuts scope of Senate public lands sell-off plan amid setbacks, public opposition: Utah senator says Forest Service lands no longer on the block as parliamentarian finds sell-off violates reconciliation budget rules.

Trump’s ag boss is cutting 3.3M ‘roadless’ acres from 9 national forests in Wyoming

Trump’s ag boss is cutting 3.3M ‘roadless’ acres from 9 national forests in Wyoming: Reversal of Clinton-era rule opens up roadbuilding and commercial logging on tens of millions of acres nationally that have been managed with a high level of environmental protection for the past quarter century.

Blog Mirror: Guest Column: Wyoming Is Full Of Politicians Who Want To Sell Your Public Lands

Provenza is a Democratic legislator, one of Wyoming's few, who used blaze orange t-shirts recalling big game hunting for her campaign last year.  She names names in this article, which is very much worth reading.

Guest Column: Wyoming Is Full Of Politicians Who Want To Sell Your Public Lands

Bonne Saint-Jean-Baptiste!

Going Feral: Blog Mirror: Blog Mirror: Senate referee rules out public land sales in megabill

Going Feral: Blog Mirror: Senate referee rules out public land...:  

Blog Mirror: Senate referee rules out public land sales in megabill

 However, Lee still promises a new provision.

Senate referee rules out public land sales in megabill

Teton County Wants Same Federal Land Sale Exemption Montana Got

 This is one of those areas which Mike Lee imagines will benefit from his land sale provision:

Teton County Wants Same Federal Land Sale Exemption Montana Got Teton County commissioners have sent a letter to Wyoming’s congressional delegation asking that federal lands in the county be exempt from any proposed sale. Montana got an exemption, and Teton

Wyomingites don't want this.  Teton County, which has a housing problem (caused by the super wealthy) doesn't want it.

When will we see Hageman, Barrasso and Lummis begin to reflect what Wyoming wants?

Lee's proposal.

Totally unacceptable.

Housing prices are crushing families and keeping young Americans from living where they grew up. We need to change that.

Thanks to YOU—the AMERICAN PEOPLE—here’s what I plan to do:

1. REMOVE ALL Forest Service land. We are NOT selling off our forests.

2. SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE the amount of BLM land in the bill. Only land WITHIN 5 MILES of population centers is eligible.

3. Establish FREEDOM ZONES to ensure these lands benefit AMERICAN FAMILIES.

4. PROTECT our farmers, ranchers, and recreational users. They come first.

Yes, the Byrd Rule limits what can go in the reconciliation bill, but I’m doing everything I can to support President Trump and move this forward.

Stay tuned. We’re just getting started.

Lee is in real trouble.  This proposal is unacceptable. No sales of public lands should be allowed, and Lee needs to be voted out of office. 

Congress woman Hageman responds, and Sen. Lee reacts.

Lee Offers Compromise On Public Land Sales Bill, Hunters Say No Deal

Sen. Lee is apparently offering something, but it's not clear what, and the opposition is saying no.  I'm saying no as well.  I adamantly opposed transferring public lands away from public hands.

Congressman Hageman responded, or somebody working for her did, to a letter I wrote.  It may of course be a form letter.     

          Dear Mr. Yeoman

Congress is currently in the budget reconciliation process, which allows for expedited consideration of certain tax, spending, and debt limit legislation. The House recently passed its version of the bill, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), which now awaits Senate consideration. Those Senate committees that received reconciliation instructions pursuant to H.Con.Res.14 have begun releasing legislative text for reconciliation consideration, but I want to note that such materials are not the final bill. These committee proposals must still be reviewed by the Senate parliamentarian for compliance with the Byrd rule and then pass the entire Senate to officially become part of the reconciliation bill. Such bill will then come back to the House for consideration in relation to what we passed earlier.   

On June 11, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee released legislative text to be considered as part of Senate Republicans’ budget reconciliation bill. As you have noted, Subtitle C of the bill instructs the Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Chief of the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to identify not less than 0.50 percent and not more than 0.75 percent of the lands managed by these agencies for disposal pursuant to the specific conditions set forth in the statutory instructions. This would amount to between two and three million acres of the roughly 640 million acres owned by the federal government, with such lands to be made available solely for the purpose of housing and community development. 

There is an extensive amount of downright flagrantly incorrect information being circulated as to the intent of this proposal, what lands would qualify for disposal should this become law, and how the process would proceed. Most notably, the Wilderness Society has produced a map for the purpose of ginning up opposition, despite the fact that such map has nothing to do with Subtitle C in any way whatsoever. It is thus necessary to clarify the situation, starting with the readily confirmable observation that there are no specific parcels or areas designated under the bill, and the details of the bill itself show that this is a commonsense proposal to identify and dispose of those BLM and USFS lands that are hindering local communities from meeting their housing and infrastructure needs, an issue with which Wyoming is all too familiar.

First, the bill does not propose selling off all federal lands. As I mentioned, it would only make available two to three million acres within the jurisdiction of the BLM and USFS in eleven states, including Wyoming. All such lands that are subject to valid existing rights (including grazing permits, ski areas, etc.), and those that are not located in the eleven eligible states are not subject to the bill. Those “Federally Protected Lands” (for example, National Parks, National Monuments, the National Wilderness Preservation System, the National Wildlife Refuge System, and more as defined in the bill) are not eligible for sale. All the lands sold pursuant to this proposal must be used “for the development of housing or to address associated community needs,” limiting not only the number of buyers, but likely making state and local governments the primary advocates and purchasers. 

Second, this legislation does not directly offer any parcels for sale but instead provides for a robust public identification and nomination process to evaluate those unused lands that are close to existing infrastructure (such as surrounding Kemmerer, Wyoming), that are ideal for addressing the affordable housing crisis. 

Both the BLM and USFS must consult with the governor, local governments, and Indian tribes regarding the suitability of the particular parcel of land for disposal before the proposed sale. Both agencies must also give priority to those lands that are nominated by state and local governments, are adjacent to existing developed areas, have access to existing infrastructure, are suitable for residential housing, reduce checkerboard land patterns, or which are isolated and inefficient to manage. All sales are to be held at fair market value, must provide state and local governments the first right of refusal, limit individual persons in how many acres they can acquire, and share revenue of the sales with the local government to assist with housing development.

This legislative proposal is now pending in the Senate and is thus not something I am currently being asked to vote on as your representative. This proposal was not included in the OBBBA that I voted for and which passed the House. However, I want to reiterate that much of the maps and information circulating about the bill are incorrect and that the proposal as drafted is a much more targeted approach to answer the needs of our local communities, who are hampered from further development due to the oversized footprint of the federal government in our states.  

I encourage you to read the bill itself to understand what it does, and as importantly, what it does not do, when considering the benefits of this legislation. Thank you for reaching out to us.  

Sincerely,

Rep. Harriet Hageman

Member of Congress

Well, at least its a response.

A few things.

I've taken at look at the bill, and I had before I received this letter, contrary to Congressman Hageman's suggestion that I, and others opposing this didn't.

This proposal still sucks.  I have no interest, for example, in reducing checkerboard land patterns, particularly if we are now able to corner cross, as it sees we can.  This land just opened to the public and now 

Nor do I have any interest in disposing of Federal lands for an alleged "housing crisis" that largely doesn't exist in the form these things suggest.  There's no requirement in any of these proposals to restrict sales of land to those really in need of housing.  A process already exists to transfer lands where such things really exist.  Sales for "fair market value", in the areas where this would apply in Wyoming, would result in transfers of land in Wyoming for castles for the rich, which I do not support.  There's nothing to suggest the land would go to state and local governments given that, and I don't want state in local governments in the housing business to start with.

More than anything, this is the wolf's nose in the door.  Once its passed, it'll push its way into the house.

Sunday, June 24, 1945. A parade in Moscow.

 

A massive military parade marking the defeat of the Germans was held in Moscow.

Japan sent a military delegation to the event.

Today in World War II History—June 24, 1940 & 1945: In a bombing raid, the RAF destroys the infamous bridge over the River Kwai in Thailand, built at great cost by slaves and prisoners of the Japanese.

Last edition:

Saturday, June 23, 1945. Polish arrangements.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, Airborne, China, Diplomacy, Horse Racing, It was because of World War Two, Luzon, Philippines, Poland, United Kingdom, United Nations, United States, USSR, World War Two