Attorney General's News Release
March 30, 2006
Nixon files objection to proposed sale of national forest land in Missouri; evaluating "all legal options available"
Jefferson City, Mo. — Attorney General Jay Nixon today filed his formal objection to a proposal by the U.S. Forest Service to sell more than 21,000 acres of the Mark Twain National Forest in Missouri. Nixon's letter, the first substantive comments filed on behalf of the state of Missouri, outlined his objections in detail and also stated that the Attorney General was evaluating "all legal options available" to protect Missouri's interests.
The National Forest Land Conveyance for Rural Communities Act, proposed by the Bush Administration, gives the Forest Service the authority to sell more than 300,000 acres of national forest nationwide. Proceeds from the sales would go to fund schools in states and counties affected by a decreased timber harvest on federal lands.
"Attorneys with my Agriculture and Environment Division have been poring over this proposal, and it's important that specific, detailed objections be raised to stop this short-sighted plan," Nixon said.
Nixon wrote the proposal is a "myopic approach to forest management and education" and that Missouri would lose proportionately more forest land and gain less financial benefit than most of the states impacted. In exchange for the sale of 21,000 acres of national forest in Missouri (fourth highest among the 34 states impacted), the President's budget calls for Missouri to receive an allocation of only $2.7 million - less than 13 other states.
"The current proposal unnecessarily and unwisely pits our public schools against our national forests," Nixon wrote to Mark Rey, Undersecretary for Natural Resources and Environment for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "The Administration has a duty to propose a means to adequately fund our public schools. But the Administration also has a duty, no less important, to protect and preserve our national forests. While I support funding for rural schools, I oppose the plan to sell our forests."
Nixon wrote the plan also is objectionable because "it does not require the (Forest) Service to take a hard look at the environmental impacts in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). This important law is designed to help ensure that agencies make informed decisions about public trust lands and should not be lightly set aside."
The current proposal is an attempt to evade NEPA requirements that an environmental impact statement or, at minimum, an environmental assessment be performed to consider the potential effects of the government's plan, a memo prepared by Nixon's Agriculture and Environment Division states. The proposed legislation specifically exempts the Forest Service from NEPA compliance by making the sales of these lands categorically excluded from NEPA. "In effect, the proposed legislation gives the Forest Service carte blanche to ignore the environmental impact of selling forest lands," the memo states.
A further criticism by Nixon of the plan is that the Forest Service has not explained how it would sell more than 21,000 acres of the Mark Twain National Forest without impacting several endangered species that inhabit the forest, including the gray bat, the Indiana bat, and the Hines Emerald Dragonfly. The proposal does not exempt the land sales from compliance with the Endangered Species Act, Nixon noted.
"It also has been difficult to pin down the Forest Service on which specific acres are going to be sold," Nixon said. "To this point, identification of those parcels has been a moving target, and what the Administration may think is unimportant to Missouri's recreational, environmental and economic concerns and needs may be well off the mark.
"Finally, we have no verifiable assurances from the Administration that the sale of national forest land would end with this proposal," Nixon said. "A fire sale of natural resources and assets that we have been entrusted to leave to future generations should not be a viable option to cover Washington's budget shortfalls."
Attorney General Jay Nixon's formal objection, 448K 
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