WORDS OF CAUTION
By
John M. Wright, RPG

AFMS Conservation & Legislation Chairman

Well, Senator Reid wasted no time in sneaking the 2009 Omnibus Lands Act, S-22, through the back rooms of the Senate for a vote that approved one of the largest land grabs, pork laden, willful, and unconscionable package of legislation in the history of the United States.  It now goes to the House of Representatives where quick approval is expected.  May even be a done deal by the time you read this in the March edition of the AFMS Newsletter.

 Well what in the world happened?  Not very much on our side of the issue and a tremendous amount of organized effort for way more than a decade by advocates that wanted this legislation passed.  If it has not yet been passed by the house, we may still have an opportunity to voice our opposition. 

 If unencumbered and enacted into law, the Omnibus Lands Act is going to cause a lot of heartburn for our members over many years to come.  I’m afraid that the ease with which this legislation was orchestrated by the pork barrel oriented crew in Washington, a flood gate has been open that will ultimately lead to us being restricted from access to all public and most private owned lands.   

 The one good thing about this is win, loose, or draw, I can get off this extremely uninteresting subject for most of you  and hopefully redirect  attention to other issues of more concern  that are also being considered by our illustrious leaders who are on a mission to save the world.  In the mean time, hang on to your precious metals and gem stones because the elite in Hollywood have decided that conditions under which these commodities are obtained are reprehensible and they seem to have tremendous influence in Washington.  Some ideas are already being discussed to see if there is enough support to have them considered.