Last Ditch Maneuver
Flood the Lines on June 25 to stop federal public land sales. Make some noise to stop Senator Mike Lee and his continued attempts to make a buck unloading the land that belongs to all of us.
In my previous life, we trained to defend ourselves from a surface-to-air missile (SAM) attack. We tried a handful of different things as the enemy missile screamed toward us. If all of those counter-tactics failed, we were left with a “last ditch maneuver.” You basically took all the airspeed you had left and cashed it all in on one last turn. While you hauled back on the stick, you hoped that the enemy SAM couldn’t turn that last corner and hit you. Desperate times.
Now, I never had to do any of that for real. I just trained for the day that it might happen. We don’t have to imagine what desperate times look like when it comes to our public land. It is under attack. Senator Mike Lee is the SAM. We just entered the phase where we need a last ditch maneuver to fight him off. Please join me tomorrow on June 25 to Flood the Lines to tell your elected officials to vote against the budget if federal public land sales are included in the bill.
Federal land sales didn’t survive out of the House. Yesterday, land sales didn’t make it past the Senate parliamentarian. But, just like an enemy SAM aimed at his own country, Senator Mike Lee has already vowed to keep trying. He’s rewriting his amendment to the budget bill this very minute. The only thing that will change is the scale of what he’s trying to do. A million or so acres instead of 3 million.
Whatever. If he tries to sell one single acre through budget reconciliation instead of as a stand alone bill, he’s being underhanded. He’s trying to sidestep two laws and the filibuster to make a buck for his handlers. I wrote about those two laws at the end of my post last week.
This is the time for a last ditch maneuver, folks. Senator Lee and his anti-public lands agenda must be stopped right here. Flood the Lines on June 25. Follow this link provided by Backcountry Hunters and Anglers. They make it easy for you to use your voice. Please do. This land is your land, after all.
This Republican administration is attacking the systems that protect and manage our lands, air, water, habitat, and wildlife like nothing in living memory. Paraphrasing Aldo Leopold, because I’m following along, all I see is a “world of wounds.”
Still, having angry debates about what to do with our public lands is a necessary part of the way our country works. It’s messy and contentious. But we can work through it.
But we can’t work through it if our public lands are sold off to the highest bidder. You can’t argue about what to do with land you no longer own. It’s bad enough that these self-interested, short-sighted “leaders” want to sell off our common inheritance over our objections. But they’re trying to do it via a simple majority vote on a budget to pay for billionaire tax cuts. No public input. No public debate. It’s theft.
I don’t expect you to keep up like I try to. I’ve made it my beat. There’s a long list of awful things they’re doing. That’s why I’m trying to help you put this topic at the top of the list. This fight, this incoming SAM, is where they must be stopped. In my opinion, all other public land topics are less important than stopping Republican Senator Lee from selling off our lands.
It’s time for the last ditch maneuver. Please speak up on June 25. We have to defeat this SAM so we can continue to fight. Because there are a lot more fights to come.
Take action HERE.
