Obama Administration Set to Seize Millions of Acres in the West

Looks like Obama is ready to use a page from the Clinton playbook, locking up millions of acres of land using the Antiquities Act of 1906.

I wonder what valuable resources are hidden under the land he intends to lock up?

Obama Administration Set to Seize Millions of Acres in the West

Not satisfied with placing banks, insurance companies, and the car industry under the control of the federal government, President Obama has turned his sights on the American West.

This is the startling revelation contained in a letter published Tuesday by the Washington Times penned by South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint. In the three-page exposé, Senator DeMint cites a 21-page secret Obama Administration document reportedly bearing the designation “Internal Draft-NOT FOR RELEASE” wherein the President sets forth his plan to federalize more than 10 million acres of land in the Western United States by placing it under the “protection” of the Department of the Interior. The pernicious nature of this scheme is illuminated when one discovers that the “federal government owns approximately 650 million acres nationwide, including about 80% of the land in Nevada and 63% of the land in Utah.”


According to DeMint’s description of the memo, the President identifies 14 pieces of land that “might be good candidates” for the unilateral executive land grab. Of the myriad valid reasons for opposing this action, Senator DeMint lists the loss of jobs (“ranching, forestry, mining, and energy development”) and the loss of tax revenue that will “dry up” the funds needed to maintain “schools, firehouses, and community centers.”

Ostensibly, the proposed seizure of so many valuable tracts of land is justified as a measure necessary for the preservation of habitats and hiking trails. This would be accomplished by proclaiming the parcels “monuments” as provided for by the . Under the provisions of that Act (officially styled the “Act for the Preservation of American Antiquities), a president is empowered to restrict the use of public land by way of executive order. The first president to exercise this authority was Theodore Roosevelt who created Devil’s Tower National Monument and the Grand Canyon National Monument under the Act’s auspices. More recently, George W. Bush cordoned off almost 200,000 square miles of the Pacific Ocean, proclaiming them to be undersea monuments.

It was the misuse (constitutionally speaking, there is no proper use) of this power by former Presidents Carter and Clinton that prompted Representative Robert Bishop (R-Utah) to blow the whistle on this inchoate plan for a massive federal land grab. During the Carter Administration, over 56 million acres of oil-rich Alaskan wilderness was appropriated by the executive branch and slapped with the “monument” label. So heinous and controversial was this overreaching that Congress weakened the Antiquities Act by passage of the Alaska National Interests Lands Conservation Act requiring Congressional approval for any seizure of land over 5,000 acres.

As for President Clinton, he ordered such forfeitures 22 times during his eight years in the White House, locking away 5.9 million acres all told throughout the country. It is one of these uses that is near and dear to the heart of Representative Bishop. In 1996, Bill Clinton created the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument by taking control of 1.9 million acres of land in southern Utah. Over 135,000 acres of this land was being leased by private developers were producing over 65,000 barrels of oil a year from five active wells. Bill Clinton’s fiat shut down those operations and capped those wells for good, depriving the country of a significant source of domestic energy.

Read more: The New American

Perhaps that is why Obama is interested in controlling the Tenth Court of Appeals:

ATS

Utah falls under the Tenth Court.



[edit on 3-3-2010 by checkers]

Know what makes absolutely no sense. It says that the reason for taking the land is...

necessary for the preservation of habitats and hiking trails.

Yet they can hardly take care of the national parks and land that they already have. Many parks are being taken care of by private parties because there is no money in the budget to take care of them properly.

The ones that are being leased to private entity's amazingly are showing a profit where the government was unable to turn a profit at all. (imagine that!)

I believe their reason for taking the land is as genuine as the Jackalope mounted on my uncles wall.

After doing a quick look at those 2 states, as to what minerals and mining that is there the only thing I can conclude is that this is a means to tie up resources that could be used in the US. Remember one of Obama's pledges is to force the country to a more green economy and will give a nudge, along with the economic problems here is what I have come up with:
Coal
Gold
Gem Stones
Uranium
Silver
Copper
Platinum
Rare earths
Oil
Funny how the largest supplier of suppliments is based out of Utah with a rich variety of minerals and Nevada, got me to thinking. One of the things that Nevada wanted to do and was pushing for was to store nuclear waste products in some of the barren lands.

reply to post by FortAnthem


Thank you.
CONSPIRACY:

ALARM BELLS!!!!!! More hope and change:

IMO, Obama -- without the consent of the American people -- may be furthering the UN goal of designating huge areas of the United States as pristine, no-people UN/World zones. A precursor to what is going on, was Obama's Secy of the Interior's plan announced some weeks ago to remove wild/feral horses from the West to Midwest and East.

"Step by step, piece by piece, the Wildlands Project is coming to fruition. The Project, foundational to the U.N.Biodiversity Treaty which was never ratified by the U.S. Senate, calls for approximately 50 percent of the United States to be set aside as "wildlands", where no human can enter."
www.citizenreviewonline.org...

"Wildlands Project"


"United Nation's Biosphere Land Grabs"
Sept 3, 2009
"Symbolized by the Egyptian ankh, the UN’s Man and Biosphere program is designed to help humans achieve a “balanced relationship with the natural world” ­ again, through “sustainable use”of natural resources."
www.infowars.com...

"THE WILDLANDS PROJECT UNLEASHES ITS WAR ON MANKIND"
www.pennsylvaniacrier.com...

"BIODIVERSITY BIOSPHERE RESERVES 50% OFFLIMITS TO HUMANS!!! WILDLANDS PROJECT ! HENRY LAMB"

Sen. Demint is making the same argument that everyone opposed to the Antiquities Act has had since it's inception.

The Grand Canyon was to be mined for all the easily accessible ore, at one point it was proposed to flood the canyon for a power plant.

Yosemite was used by sheepherders, the valley was also suggested to be flooded for a power plant for nearby San Francisco. The Hetch Hetchy valley nearby, was flooded instead.

Yellowstone was used by ranchers and hunters, ultimately the volcanic land was deemed 'useless' and made into a national park. The Grand Tetons just south of Yellowstone was farmland that was bought up by John Rockefeller, the land was eventually donated by the family to the federal government.

Nearly every piece of land protected by the Antiquities Act was fought against for the very same reasons Sen. Demint argues for here. Fun fact: almost 30% of the land area of the United States is owned by the federal government.

I'm so tired of this SH*T! When are we gonna stop letting the government stick it to us? I mean when is enough enough? I mean I am so ticked off and I am tired of not doing anything but sitting by and watching them rob us blind! I just don't know what to do. I mean what do we do when voting no longer works because the whole thing is rigged and all the players are on the same team!? Aarghh!!

Funny I feel bad for the displaced, yet I am also glad our nation will still have some open spaces, that are FREE, meaning places that everyone can enjoy and nobody can exploit.
Although I can't wait until water is privatized, PARTY!
If America lasts countless generations we owe it to those ahead of us, we need to be more responsible including spending, etc...

If you don't get me, I don't get you myself,

we can agree to disagree

reply to post by pumpkinorange


You know I was going to comment on that component of it and I am glad I didn't. Excellent comment!

OP, S&F.

I am thinking MOVES within MOVES.

How to dismantle the US?

Thinking long term.

First you must remove her assets. SS Fund and any other funds. CHECK.

Second you must remove her manufacturing capabilities. Institute unfair economic treaties. CHECK.

Third you must cause civil unrest. Flood country with immigration that is way over the sustainability. CHECK.

Fourth you must seperate her from the rest of the world. Implement numerous wars all around the world and have the government piss off allies. CHECK.

Fifth you must decimate her economy. Allow banks to loan money to people that cannot afford the loans and also allow them to speculate with securities that are inherently worthless. CHECK.

Sixth you must seize control of all aspects left of the economy and any areas that can be used to sustain said economy. THIS ONE IS IN EFFECT.

Seventh and final maneuver. Bring her down by completely destroying their monetary system and all means of trade.

At this time the people will be screaming for their chains.

Institute new system of control parameters.

I have no problem with this. Nature needs an advocate because right now the ballance between selfish human desires and the essential needs of the habitat that they depend on is tilted too much in our favour. It's not nature vs man anymore. We need to protect this planet or there is not going to be a planet anymore.




[edit on 4-3-2010 by Silenceisall]

Originally posted by Janky Red
Funny I feel bad for the displaced, yet I am also glad our nation will still have some open spaces, that are FREE, meaning places that everyone can enjoy and nobody can exploit.
Although I can't wait until water is privatized, PARTY!
If America lasts countless generations we owe it to those ahead of us, we need to be more responsible including spending, etc...

If you don't get me, I don't get you myself,

we can agree to disagree

your right...the republicans want private land with fences around them to keep people out, all the while tearing up the ground in massive open pit mining operations. while obama, and by the way alot of other presidents, wish to keep the land as it is, in it's natural state...yeah tough choice there.

I think the purported reasons for seizing these lands to be used for "hiking" and other activities are bogus.
All you need to do is read Richard Sauder's new book "Hidden in Plain Sight" to know that this land grab is more likely for installing huge underground facilities and tunnels to access secret areas.
This is yet another example of the few who have the power taking from the many who do not.
I think it has nothing to do with preservation of the environment or anything else remotely related to that.
Read the book and you will agree.

I don't believe the FED has any constitutional authority to take 1 inch of land from the states. It's all criminal and it's device is the "Legal System" which is simply a Jesuit/Vatican tool. Herding people into the cities and making it criminal to live on the land. The fed is not doing this for any noble reason, nor do they have an real authority for it. They use rationals that have some appeal to some people as if it is meant to be well intended. But nothing is being done for good reasons.

reply to post by FortAnthem


I cannot speak to the authenticity of this letter. However I will say this, there are many national treasures that would now be sinkholes and distant memories only seen in black and white photos if it were not for the forsight of some of our national leaders and business leaders with a conscience.

Say what you will but I am not against there being more land out of the grasp of those who would spoil it for their own gain.

okey, here's a "what if". Since china hold most of our debt, what if obama's locking in their collateral? I mean china's gotta have some way of being assured that what's there's is there's till we pay off the debt, right?
Let's just see what areas he takes. Just my two cents.

reply to post by Chance321


Of all the possible explanations, this one actually makes sense. Trading mining rights for paper, no taxes necessary.

Yea yea, don't think of the future, just think it's some land grab. Does anyone live on the proposed acreage that is proposed?

Don't you think that it might be a good idea to have protected tracts of land for future generations?

Oh no, Obama did it, it must be for an evil purpose. Screw it, let's develop every single spit of land in the United States.

What do you think of when you hear the department of the interior? What I think of is a national park, Something that is set aside undisturbed, and undeveloped so that future generations have some open spaces. Some place where everyone can visit, but they aren't disturbed so that we can have something for future generations.

But screw your kids and grandkids right?

But I guess that is evil because Obama want's it right?

I swear, something that is good for the future of the country, must be evil just because it's proposed by the Obama administration?

Yea, don't think that the mineral rights are already owned by the US Government, and are only sold off to mega corporations.

This Obama hate is getting to the point of absurdity at this point.

[edit on 3/4/2010 by whatukno]

Originally posted by Janky Red
I am also glad our nation will still have some open spaces, that are FREE, meaning places that everyone can enjoy and nobody can exploit.

Uhh, you are a little bit old-fashioned in your outlook, yes?
Yhea, in the old days that's what I thought too.
When we all thought the land was being saved for "us" and our children.
Comments like yours remind me why the ptb are having such an EASY time carrying out their agenda.
They've got your ardent support.
You turn over and press "snooze".

Did you watch the videos my friend?
This is not space for the sheeple to graze.
It is being bought to eventually make it off limts to people.
Do you still not "get" it?
It's about NWO control, treason against the Constitution, globalism, death of property rights, control of populations.

No doubt this will piss of some ranchers, mining and oil interests. I'm all for saving some pristine areas of the US but this might be a very bad time to do so. Any loss of jobs or tax revenues could easily send the counties and states where these lands are into financial meltdown.
Maybe this is collateral for the Chinese or for the UN biodiversity project who knows?
The real shame is that we pay the government to watch our for OUR interests. Somehow I don't think that is the case in this instance.
In other words - WHAT ARE THEY NOT TELLING US?

Originally posted by whatukno
This Obama hate is getting to the point of absurdity at this point.

Your rote political dogma rehashing and lack of clear thinking is getting faster to the point of absurdity at this point.