Forest For Sale

Federal officials announced tentative plans last week to sell
off more than 80,000 acres of national forest land in
California – including 104 acres located in Los Padres National
Forest – to help fund President Bush’s Secure Rural Schools Act,
which looks to raise $800 million in the next five years for
schools that were once funded by timber sales from federal land.
The local acreage comes from two oil-producing parcels located
south of New Cuyama. According to a National Parks spokesperson,
the two lots were chosen because they are “outside the main body of
the forest” and have been leased to an oil company – E&B
Natural Resources – for decades. Before any lots are sold, they
must pass a period of public comment and then be approved by
Congress.