"The big power brokers of the west, cattlemen and loggers, will never stop trying for the land grab Liberty. You've been well endoctrinated by them we know. The lease arrangement and sales mentioned in your article are nothing more than government sponsored subsidies. Something I assumed you weren't in favor of. There's nothing wrong with selling timber to the highest bidder in suitable acres, but in should be competitive."--hillbilly

at least I know the proper relationship between a citizen and his government in this country and I don't bow down to the almighty federal government such as the sheep I am arguing with.

there's also nothing wrong with the federal government loosening its grip on land it can't take care of and sell it to someone who can, or are you one of those enlightened individuals who's never used a wood product in your life or written something down on paper.

they don't even have to sell all or even a half of it to satisfy me, just sell off the stuff that threatens the people who live out here, they can keep the interior forests and they can turn them into the so-called pristine, untrammeled by man acreage they desire, then when all of it burns the only forest we'll have left will reside on private and state land.

they can't take care of it, I am not a conspiracy theorist, I know what the problem is, they have too much land to take care of for the amount of money and personnel they have.

Common sense will tell you that if you can't take care of something you should find someone who can.

Sell it off in small tracts 40, 80, 120, 160 acres, sell no more than 640 acres to a buyer. People with their own selfish interests (Hellbender might remember this as the original conservative idea). Those people will take care of the land and manage it for their own interest. Some will take out the trees, others will thin the trees, all of them will manage it in a way that minimizes the effects of catastrophic fire on their land.