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Quote by Christopher Ketcham

“Attack the value of public lands as a national birthright, reduce their worth in the public eye, diminish the institutions that protect the land, cut down their authority, bring them into disrepute, undermine public confidence, neuter enforcement, create a climate of uncertainty and disorder, demoralize the land managers--this is the long game now being played.”

Quote by Christopher Ketcham

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Christopher Ketcham

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“Public lands seizure, conceived as a fell swoop of the sword, will likely never come to pass. The law bars it, precedent bars it, and the Supreme Court has spoken to this effect repeatedly. FLPMA, unless amended by Congress, establishes that the land shall remain in the hands of all citizens in perpetuity. I think the seizure will require more delicate schemes, slowly moving and imperceptibly violent. In Congress it starts with an amendment to an appropriations bill here and there. A rider or two or three to bills that otherwise must pass to maintain the budget. It’s easy to curtail the protection of seeming irrelevancies like grass, soil, water, air, and wildlife when the public is distracted with the question of whether the government will go on functioning.”

“The acreage of our federal public lands is equivalent to the entire country of Germany seven times over. These lands provide space for hunting, fishing, and leisure activities; wildlife habitats; clean-water protection; sustainable industry; and much more. All for the public. It's about as profoundly American an idea as you can find: the democratization of land and resources and food and recreation and wildlife and scenery and space and solitude.”

“It was easy to see what Bundy and anti-public-land politicians really wanted: for public lands to be given to certain people. People who want land for their own gains--to mine it, graze it, drill it, or sell it--people who want to exploit it.”

“And then my father saw it. First the green eyes. Then the massive head, a white patch on the forehead, and white fur framing the face. Then he saw the teeth. Horrific, sharp teeth. Finally, he saw the monster in its entirety. The tiger. But instead of speeding towards them on all fours, it was sprinting on two legs like a human being.”