OPINION | This article contains commentary that reflects the author's opinion.
Woody Guthrie claims, “This land is your land, this land is the federal government’s land, from California to the New York island,” according to The Western Journal.
“The report shall propose guidelines for determining whether lands and waters qualify for conservation, and it also shall establish mechanisms to measure progress toward the 30 percent goal.”
“What we’ve asked from the administration is for more information, because their math doesn’t work,” Republican Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts stated.
“Either they’re going to fail to get to 30 percent, or they’re not telling us something else about how they’re going to get to 30 percent.”
“We are deeply concerned about any effort to enlarge the federal estate or further restrict the use of public lands in our states.”
“We oppose any increase in land use restrictions on lands under our state jurisdiction.”
“Assuming there is some authority which would allow the program, obtaining the 30 percent goal from state or private lands would require your Administration to condemn or otherwise severely limit the current productive uses of such lands, infringing on the private property rights of our citizens and significantly harming our economies.”
From The Western Journal:
Naturally, the nebulous language is raising red flags for many governors, especially in the West.
Ricketts not only signed an executive order of his own countering the cryptic “conservation” plan, but he also led 14 other Republican governors in writing a joint letter to Biden highlighting their concerns.
The Biden administration’s lack of clarity in this matter is certainly cause for concern.The federal government is allowed to forcibly seize private property if it compensates the owner — perhaps one of the “strategies” that could soon become common under Biden’s executive order.
On top of that, the Biden administration could subject farmers and ranchers to new regulations if the land they work on is considered “conserved.”
How convenient. Get ready for expanded federal power in the name of “tackling the climate crisis.”
