Dear editor:

Just another thought….

How does a Professor of Environmental Science, Policy and Management at the University of California, Berkeley, regardless of his years studying the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, become an expert on Park County, Wyoming and changes he sees here? He has published an opinion article in The New York Times lamenting “mounting development as a grave threat because of how it is carving up the ecosystem that must stay relatively intact to function.” He’s from California! Let him get his state under control first before he tells us what we should do.

The USDA is awarding millions to partner-driven conservation projects (three in Wyoming) to protect open spaces in Northwest Wyoming. This five-year initiative is led by the Jackson Hole Land Trust in partnership with Grand Teton National Park, in addition to three other organizations, and desires to protect up to 20,000 acres of private lands. The plan allows landowners to retain private ownership while saving open lands for future generations. While that has merit, someone other than the land owner is controlling what essentially happens on their land. That “other” agency is the Jackson Hole Land Trust, and the more than $19 BILLION funding comes to them through the Farm Bill and the Inflation Reduction Act (or shall we say, the Inflation INCREASING Act?).) The Inflation Reduction Act is part of the federal government’s Investing in America Agenda which is the largest investment in CLIMATE action and conservation in the U.S. history! (Think INCREASING taxes!).

Anything the federal government gets involved with has lots of conditions and CONS, and the taxpayer is the victim. Why should the federal government control what we do in Wyoming? They’ve made a HUMONGOUS mess of our country and now they want to intervene in our state. The Jackson Hole Land Trust is rushing to acquire farm land easements since many farmers are looking at retirement and the Trust needs to be part of the farmers’ decisions. I believe in sound land management, but the federal government has been trying to lock lands away from locals for a long time. They tried to shut down off-highway vehicle trails on the McCullough Peaks years ago, but users got wind of it and nixed some of their plans. The Bighorns have seen massive trail shutdowns and I’m sure other areas have as well. There’s a movement afoot (worldwide!) to keep citizens in towns and cities and not allow them access to lands they pay taxes to manage. Check out Agenda 21.

Toby Sheets

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