State Forest Land May Be Sold — Part of Bush’s Plan to Liquidate Federal Lands

By Associated Press

JACKSON – About 7,500 acres of natural forest in Mississippi would be sold off as part of President Bush’s budget proposal to liquidate around $800 million worth of federal lands.

The Bush budget suggests selling off 200,000 acres across the country. The land, once sold, could be used for logging, development or any other purpose.

The U.S. Forest Service said parcels were selected in five out of Mississippi’s six national forests because they were isolated or inefficient to manage.

The largest tract would be a single parcel of more than 400 acres in Tombigbee National Forest in northeast Mississippi.

The money raised by the sales would supplement a national program that directs federal revenue received from activities such as timber sales in national forests to help states and counties pay for rural schools and roads. The program was set to expire this year.

Bush’s fiscal year 2007 budget asks to extend the program for another five years, financing it through the federal land sale.

In the last few years, states and counties that were home to national forests have been getting less money from fewer timber sales on federal land, the budget request states.

Ron Seiss, the assistant director of wildlife for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, said he was not aware of any of the land being part of the state’s wildlife management area system.

More than half of the total area for sale nationwide, more than 130,000 acres, would come from the Western states, where the federal government owns large tracts of land.

The U.S. Forest Service manages 193 million acres of forests and grassland in America.