Jan. 10, 2024
I am writing as a concerned citizen and a frequent user of our public lands. The proposed ruling to transfer the management of our (US citizens) public land to a publicly traded corporation for the purpose of management of said lands has broad negative connotations. Whatever short term gains which the sponsors of this ruling hope to gain will greatly impact the users of these lands. My wife and I have enjoyed the recreational opportunities of 30 National Monuments and 44 National Parks over the years. Initially we purchased annual passes to these units and now enjoy the use of a senior citizens pass. We donate to these parks whenever we visit and belong to several park associations. Our greatest fear is that private management of these properties will raise the fees to a point where we will not be able to afford to visit them based on our retirement income. Our second fear is that private management will open these unique properties to exploitation of the natural resources found in them thus ruining their value as a national treasure for us and future generations to enjoy. This seems to be in direct contradiction of the original intention of setting aside these wonders. How long will it be before the Grand Canyon becomes another water impoundment facility and Yellowstone is set up as a geothermal power generating station. I have retired from a service industry of our vast agriculture community and I worry about the future of the folks that depend on the use of public lands for livestock production. As the original producers these folk are squeezed by rising commodity prices and other prices of production. I believe that the added burden of the private management corporation raising the prices for the use of these public lands will force many to go out of livestock production which will have repercussions down to the consumer level. In short, I believe that any short-term gain afforded by relinquishing the control of our public lands will be greatly diminished by the long-term loss of these valuable resources. I do not feel that these corporations can be trusted to not be overcome by greed valed under the guise of returning profit to their investors. Please do NOT allow this to happen. CC: U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper and U.S. Representative L. Boebert