Project 2025 and public lands and environment

[ncstatehunter]

In Arkansas you can join prescribed burn associations and get tapped to assist with burns. They’ll volunteer to help on public lands too. I wonder if something like that exists for invasive plant removal?

I know it exists out west. As far as around here, mostly I’ve seen river keeper trash cleanup stuff, our adopt a highway program for trash pick up and sometimes trout unlimited as well as I discuss hunting clubs and state groups doing stuff on private and smaller public lands parcels here and there. Prescribe burns take place and need to more now with the hurricane debris all about on our national forest lands. I will say our state owned properties are managed good from my perspective, it’s our national forest management that could be better but even that in spots is good. I just don’t want good, I want the best. Like my health, I don’t want normal, I want optimal.

 

[Jason Snyder]

The local ranchers and farmers should be able to determine their own economy. AP goes in there and offers ridiculous prices for estate sales at auction. I see they upped their block management access but still only a dent.

Let’s ignore facts then, that you can cross any of their land to access public.

Are you opposed to the Wilks brothers buying land? They’ve taken more land out of access than APR.

 

[TaperPin]

I wish I had written his name down, or bookmarked the interview of one of the main budget advisors. It caught my attention when he pointed out specifically eliminating half of Bureau of Land Management offices because they are too close together. He’s very adamant this is going to happen. It made a catchy talking point how we aren’t riding horses anymore and it’s wasteful. A lot of offices in Wyoming are about two hours from each other. Get rid of half of those and just think about what it does to drive times for the people in the field doing actual work. Where the work is would stretch out twice as far. Explain to me how driving 4 hours a day on the blacktop plus however far on side roads to cover the same area makes any sense whatsoever. Biologists, archeologists, soil scientists, range guys, maintenance guys, fire guys, etc are all going to get squeezed hard on this one and productivity will drop in half and internal cost of GSA vehicles is probably over $2 per mile. That adds up quick.

This type of looney toons management makes us look like idiots. With the presidency and both houses, when a lot of good things could happen, they want to focus on stupid stuff and it will cost us both houses and the presidency. The swing voters that got Trump elected won’t be fooled twice if prices are high and productivity is low.

 

[PLhunter]

I wish I had written his name down, or bookmarked the interview of one of the main budget advisors. It caught my attention when he pointed out specifically eliminating half of Bureau of Land Management offices because they are too close together. He’s very adamant this is going to happen. It made a catchy talking point how we aren’t riding horses anymore and it’s wasteful. A lot of offices in Wyoming are about two hours from each other. Get rid of half of those and just think about what it does to drive times for the people in the field doing actual work. Where the work is would stretch out twice as far. Explain to me how driving 4 hours a day on the blacktop plus however far on side roads to cover the same area makes any sense whatsoever. Biologists, archeologists, soil scientists, range guys, maintenance guys, fire guys, etc are all going to get squeezed hard on this one and productivity will drop in half and internal cost of GSA vehicles is probably over $2 per mile. That adds up quick.

This type of looney toons management makes us look like idiots. With the presidency and both houses, when a lot of good things could happen, they want to focus on stupid stuff and it will cost us both houses and the presidency. The swing voters that got Trump elected won’t be fooled twice if prices are high and productivity is low.

Are you talking about Vought?

 

[TaperPin]

Are you talking about Vought?

I honestly can’t remember - it was in the background until he said that.

 

[PLhunter]

Also, the people doing those cuts in Washington are all tech bros. They see absolutely zero value in archeology, nature, or the outside world in general. It’s dollars and 1’s and 0’s. So it doesn’t matter at all to them whether that’s actually efficient or not. All that matters is that it’s less or none. It’s not about efficiency at all. It’s about consolidation.

 

[TaperPin]

Are you talking about Vought?

Howard Lutnick - he’s on the transition team.

 

[Gila]

Actually that one is false. Look to Utah and elsewhere. A quick google search is a good friend.

Lol, but let’s not get distracted on this though. We could not be further apart on this particular issue. I’ve hunted free range bison. It was an amazing experience and I’ll advocate for them whenever I can. But having somewhere to advocate for them and hunt them is more important in the short term.

What is false? I would really enjoy getting a tag to hunt bison on Custer state park. I keep buying points. But seriously, there are herds that don’t have much Bovine DNA but there are none that don’t have any. Rosebud is the only Reservation I know of that has large, managed free ranging buffalo herds. Of course there may be others I am not aware of. I remember many years ago Rosebud tried to get started with a seed herd from Catalina Island. That herd had too much of the wrong bovine DNA and was prone to disease. I gather that Rosebud has since acquired some Buffalo from AP that are not genetically weak. The other tribes have their small “pet” herds but they are cattle ranchers, farmers and sell hunts.

 

[PLhunter]

What is false? I would really enjoy getting a tag to hunt bison on Custer state park. I keep buying points. But seriously, there are herds that don’t have much Bovine DNA but there are none that don’t have any. Rosebud is the only Reservation I know of that has large, managed free ranging buffalo herds. Of course there may be others I am not aware of. I remember many years ago Rosebud tried to get started with a seed herd from Catalina Island. That herd had too much of the wrong bovine DNA and was prone to disease. I gather that Rosebud has since acquired some Buffalo from AP that are not genetically weak. The other tribes have their small “pet” herds but they are cattle ranchers, farmers and sell hunts.

Look up genetically pure bison herds. It’s all there. Also, we hunted bison in the book cliffs roadless area in Utah. Absolutely free range and wild and rugged as all hell. Additionally the Henry mountains herd, while struggling, has been free range for many decades. Also genetically pure.

 

[Gila]

Let’s ignore facts then, that you can cross any of their land to access public.

Are you opposed to the Wilks brothers buying land? They’ve taken more land out of access than APR.

Like I said the local ranchers should be able to determine their own economy. I am opposed to any land barons acquiring vast tracts of private family ranch land. Turner Enterprises, AP, Nature Conservancy, Wilkes whomever.

 

[Jason Snyder]

Like I said the local ranchers should be able to determine their own economy. I am opposed to any land barons acquiring vast tracts of private family ranch land. Turner Enterprises, AP, Nature Conservancy, Wilkes whomever.

Haha. Make more money if you want to buy land. Thats how it works, no?

I’m out. You can carry on with your falsehoods

 

[Gila]

Look up genetically pure bison herds. It’s all there. Also, we hunted bison in the book cliffs roadless area in Utah. Absolutely free range and wild and rugged as all hell. Additionally the Henry mountains herd, while struggling, has been free range for many decades. Also genetically pure.

It’s sad really is, I mean that: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-09828-z

 

[Poser]

Look, if you say we need more funding to protect and manage our public lands so they don’t get sold to the highest bidder and turn around and claim shutting down frivolous spending in the budget that doesn’t benefit the citizenry of this country is a bad thing then you are talking out of both sides of your mouth. Shutting that stuff down leaves more monies to be spent on actual benefits to our citizenry I.e. public lands. It’s up to us to hold our elected officials to that standard and voice where we want our money smartly spent. Identifying, cutting and smartly allocating a budget is possible. I think that’s the whole point @CJ19 is making and I agree with.

I'd say this is a super optimistic take. I'm not sure "we" are going to get a say in much of anything with the way Elon Musk and his fleet of 19 year old "investigators" are running away with most whatever they want, taking whatever action they deem appropriate without a senate confirmation hearing or security clearance. The Trump administration seems to be questioning if they are even subject to the rulings of federal judges.

I mean your point is a nice thought and all, it just seems rather uncertain whether or not the elected officials that "we" hold to standard can hold this administration to any type of standard.

 

[WalterH]

Trump's plan to build houses on federal land, explained

Donald Trump’s impending second term has sparked discussions about addressing the housing crisis by building new homes on federal lands.

www.housingwire.com

 

[TaperPin]

Trump's plan to build houses on federal land, explained

Donald Trump’s impending second term has sparked discussions about addressing the housing crisis by building new homes on federal lands.

www.housingwire.com

Deporting 20% of the already short handed workforce in residential construction, plus increased cost due to tariffs, will definitely affect prices, but housing prices aren’t going down.

 

[ncstatehunter]

I'd say this is a super optimistic take. I'm not sure "we" are going to get a say in much of anything with the way Elon Musk and his fleet of 19 year old "investigators" are running away with most whatever they want, taking whatever action they deem appropriate without a senate confirmation hearing or security clearance. The Trump administration seems to be questioning if they are even subject to the rulings of federal judges.

I mean your point is a nice thought and all, it just seems rather uncertain whether or not the elected officials that "we" hold to standard can hold this administration to any type of standard.

Oh I know it is, I’m a glass half full guy much to my buddy’s chagrin when we hunt together, but someone has to even out his negativity! We as a whole really don’t hold any official to a standard because most of the time any primary challenger never gets enough votes if they aren’t said party’s chosen one. Voters hold the power of term limits yet never exercise it usually, instead pining for govt to set them, which they’d never anyway. All the more reason to be laser focused with govt role in things and not let mission creep distract or take away from the original goal. Fighting human nature I know.

 

[D S 319]

no way is the USD stronger today than it was 100 years ago?

 

[PLhunter]

It’s sad really is, I mean that: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-09828-z

That is interesting. They didn’t test the Utah herds but they came from Yellowstone so it’s probable. Doesn’t change any of how I feel regarding prioritizing them, especially with such low introgression. I had seen the Utah State and University of Utah studies but the rates are so low that advanced tools like those you shared would be needed. I mean many Europeans have as much or more neanderthal DNA.

 

[PLhunter]

no way is the USD stronger today than it was 100 years ago?

You’re thinking of this too simply. One US dollar could indeed buy more 100 years ago. However, the value of a currency depends on GDP, and total purchasing power. The dollar relative to other currencies is stronger today than it was 100 years ago. Our total purchasing power as an economy and all the USD is much much greater than the sum of all USD available 100 years ago. Our economy and wealth has throughout the decades grown in proportion with the inflation of the dollar.

If you have a country with only 12 yamboozles in circulation and each is worth a million dollars, that doesn’t make a yamboozle more powerful because the total purchasing power is very weak compared to the total our dollars and its value. The dollar is globally very very strong.

Monetary theory is more complex than how much milk per piece of paper can buy.

I guess it’s important to make the distinction between THE USD and A USD.

 

[woods89]

Deporting 20% of the already short handed workforce in residential construction, plus increased cost due to tariffs, will definitely affect prices, but housing prices aren’t going down.

No kidding.......

What seems to escape so many people is that there is literally no one out there to fill the void. A good living can currently be made in the trades, but I don't see parents pushing their children toward them.

A good question to consider is "What kind of annual salary would it take for me to encourage MY children to work on a roofing or drywall hanging crew?" $75,000? 100,000? $150,000? When you realize that plenty of those jobs are getting done for $40,000 per year it sort of brings the problem into focus.

Now I am a huge fan of professionalizing the trades, and the system needs reform. Perhaps the biggest reason is that a lot of employers are simply taking advantage of undocumented workers, with unsafe working conditions, no Workers Comp, etc. But the current trend makes me anticipate some real disruption. Folks could easily be waiting a year on a new roof at double or triple current rates, for example.

I'm fortunate in that my area doesn't have a lot of undocumented workers, and all of our crew and subcontractors crews are US citizens. Honestly the trend of deportation will likely make our work much more valuable, but at the cost of some serious inflation.

Part of me thinks there will be a token amount of deportation, quite well publicized, and then it will end when the consequences set in.

Americans have proven time and again that they want everyone else to teach their children to be willing to do manual labor, but their own are just too special.

Rant off.....