Headline was misleading

I want to thank Mariah Kardelis for the well-written article on the sale of lands historically owned by Anaconda Company, Champion International, Weyerhaeuser and Southern Pine Plantations, to the Green Diamond Resource Company. (Sanders County Ledger, December 3, 2020)

However, I must tell you that the headline is misleading and could lead to misconceptions concerning land management policies. Those companies are all large, corporate PRIVATE companies several of which have become real estate and land development agencies. Land they own can be sold, developed or managed as they see fit, usually to their financial benefit. We have been fortunate that those companies have in the past, allowed the public to access their property. It looks as if Green Diamond will continue that policy but public access to PRIVATE land is not guaranteed.

In general, PUBLIC lands are owned and can be accessed by the citizens of the United States They are not owned by any individual, person or company. Government entities such as the National Park System, Bureau of Land Management, and the Forest Service, manage PUBLIC lands for multiple uses including mining, timber harvest, grazing and preservation of natural amenities, and recreation. PUBLIC land cannot be sold without an Act of Congress. In general, changes in management applications or agency plans are usually open to comments and input from citizens of the United States. This is usually not the case with privately owned lands.

Recently there has been a push to convert PUBLIC lands to private ownership which could put public access at risk as it has near Plains with the sale of 4,000 acres purportedly to a large private hunting club which has already put up signs limiting public access.

To preserve our heritage of ease of access to the vast opportunities provided by our PUBLIC lands we must keep those lands in PUBLIC hands. Please correct the impressions the headline to your article may have engendered. Thank you,

Ellen Childress,

Plains