blacktail slayer

A little Oregon Territory & Fed Gov History

I hear people argue about who owned the land in the past with this subject. Do you mean when the Indians had it or when the US was going back and forth with other countries who owned the Oregon Territory (OR, WA & ID)? I would say the land that is the Forest Service now is about 125 years old. From 1843 to 1850 Oregon settlers could claim a full section of land (640 acres). When Oregon became a Territory in 1848, Congress nullified the land grants. Congress passed the Oregon Donation Land Claim Act in 1850 that expired in 1855 that saw 7,000 land patents been issued. This Act which only allowed adult white males to claim a half section of land for himself and if married another half section in his wife’s name. The Federal Forest Reserve Act of 1891 allowed around 40 million acres of land to be established by 1897 and managed by the General Land Office (Department of Interior). Congress moved the reserves in 1905 to the Division of Forestry (Dept of Ag).

I'm not sure how much of that 40 million acres was developed back in the 1800's with the low amount of people out west, lack of technology, lack of water for livestock, and rugged terrain. Yes in the valleys and lower foothills. So I would say we didn't do anything before the government took it. The government actually never took it from US citizens. US citizens never purchased this land because you could not farm and make money off the land again because of the technology, ruggedness, and lack of water back then.

Topgun 3006

Too bad you're the only one making posts on this thread of yours. It's a huge deal right now and almost all the Republican candidates for Pres. appear in favor of giving or selling OUR public lands to the states, which would be a travesty. One problem with people that don't care or are in favor of it is they may not realize that the Feds manage the public lands for a wide variety of things from hiking, hunting, domestic animal grazing, mineral extraction, etc. Contrary to that is that the various state Constitutions are written such that the state lands are run for just one thing and that is to make the most money they can with the least amount of work on their part. What do you think will happen if they get millions of acres that are in the various western states when they can't even keep their own budgets in good shape with the acreage they manage right now? Simple answer---sell it to the highest bidder and WE lose it forever!

blacktail slayer

Donald Trumps is the only Republican Candidate that say he would not transfer Fed Land to the states or sell off to the highest private bidder. He has 2 sons that love hunting and think the transfer would limit public access. http://www.fieldandstream.com/articl...d-conservation

Topgun 3006

I watched that interview a couple days ago and Trump is just like all the politicians in that he'll tell his audience what they want to hear and then move on to the next place and do the same even if it's contrary to what he said the day before. He never hunts and acted like it was a big deal because he has a CCW that most can't get in NY. If you look back when his boys hunted over in Africa some time ago he was asked about them shooting trophy game over there and his comment was something to the affect that he would have to talk to them about that because he would never do that. IMHO he's just a very wealthy egomaniac that has to be in the spotlight to maintain his huge ego and it doesn't matter much how he does it.

blacktail slayer

Study shows that federal public lands boost rural economies.

http://headwaterseconomics.org/publi...ds-performance

blacktail slayer

A glimpse at what would come if the states controlled your public lands.

http://www.waow.com/story/31281149/2...AOW_Newsline_9