15 ms·

Hopefully we see similar efforts from others. The incoming president has stated he plans to gut the EPA and potentially even divvy up some state/national parks

Hopefully we see similar efforts from others. The incoming president has stated he plans to gut the EPA and potentially even divvy up some state/national parks for development. Private donors will have to win out over commercial interests, as far as conservation is concerned.

_delirium 10y ago
One option for people with some money to spare, but not enough to personally buy thousands of acres, is to donate to a conservation land trust, which pools money to buy up land and preserve it. These are usually local or state/regional organizations, such as the Texas Land Conservancy [1] or the John Muir Land Trust [2]. There's a directory of them here: http://findalandtrust.org/ http://findalandtrust.org/ [1] http://www.texaslandconservancy.org/ http://www.texaslandconservancy.org/ [2] http://www.jmlt.org/ http://www.jmlt.org/
- jrobn 10y ago
  Maybe also think about donating to http://earthjustice.org http://earthjustice.org. They are a non profit that fights cases in court to protect wild spaces, destructive legislation, and corporate rape of public lands.
justin66 10y ago
There's a lot of this going on in some places. It's useful for people who already own a lot of land but don't want to pay property taxes on it. Agree not to drill for oil or cut down timber in your enormous back yard and get a huge tax discount...
- ethbro 10y ago
  Isn't the purpose of a land tax to encourage the most productive use of land? So if we value wilderness, then a tax break seems like the correct way to facilitate that.
mikeyouse 10y ago
You're not joking.. The guy who's in charge of Trump's EPA transition thinks that climate change is a hoax, that the Clean Power Plan is illegal, that the Endangered Species Act should be repealed, that the Paris Climate Agreement is unconstitutional. The likely pick to head the DOE is a lobbyist for the oil industry who wants to open up Federal lands for energy exploration. Good lord this election is going to have far-reaching consequences.
- knowaveragejoe 10y ago
  My understanding is that there are other options he could go with, but it is indeed alarming that the seeming "top pick" would be this guy of all people. It's a shame.
  - mikeyouse 10y ago
    Yeah, Myron Ebell is the person I'm referring to for the EPA. He's the odds on favorite to get the job in the end, but today he's leading the team to transition the department to a Trump White House. Even if he doesn't end up with the job, he's the person picking the eventual department head.
- losteric 10y ago
  It's not just Trump, the entire government is seeing red. The Republicans have control of the House, Senate, Presidency, and they will take control of the Judicial branch as well. It's a conservative wet dream. In four years, we'll either have a 1-party system or an N-party system.
  - M_Grey 10y ago
    Given the republican track record, in 4 years we'll be in a serious economic crisis, at least one war, and they'll be incredibly unpopular. Fortunately for them, they're well funded and well gerrymandered.
    - germinalphrase 10y ago
hkmurakami 10y ago
I've always wondered when development pressures will reclaim the open space and nature preserves we have in the Bay Area. Perhaps this is it.
- hx87 10y ago
  Depends on how strong vertical NIMBY is compared to horizontal NIMBY. I hope the latter is stronger.
wnevets 10y ago
hillary had those emails tho, so its ok.
AnOscelot 10y ago
One organization I support is the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance[1]. For those of you that care about the redrock desert, please look into them. They were very effective in the Bush years and I'm hoping they will be again. [1] suwa.org
jyriand 10y ago
There's a great documentary "You've been trumped" about Trump's great ambition to build a golf course to Scotland. This is a nice example what the future president thinks about nature and wilderness. Full doc seems to be available in youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCfaYlRyTGA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCfaYlRyTGA
odbol_ 10y ago
Be prepared for Trump Towers in every National Forest. It's going to be YUUUUGE.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
Shivetya 10y ago
Well if they do sell some of it then its an idea time for those who can and want to protect the environment long term step forward. People need to see it as an opportunity and then take it.

_delirium 10y ago

One option for people with some money to spare, but not enough to personally buy thousands of acres, is to donate to a conservation land trust, which pools money to buy up land and preserve it. These are usually local or state/regional organizations, such as the Texas Land Conservancy [1] or the John Muir Land Trust [2]. There's a directory of them here: http://findalandtrust.org/ http://findalandtrust.org/ [1] http://www.texaslandconservancy.org/ http://www.texaslandconservancy.org/ [2] http://www.jmlt.org/ http://www.jmlt.org/

jrobn 10y ago
Maybe also think about donating to http://earthjustice.org http://earthjustice.org. They are a non profit that fights cases in court to protect wild spaces, destructive legislation, and corporate rape of public lands.

justin66 10y ago

There's a lot of this going on in some places. It's useful for people who already own a lot of land but don't want to pay property taxes on it. Agree not to drill for oil or cut down timber in your enormous back yard and get a huge tax discount...

ethbro 10y ago
Isn't the purpose of a land tax to encourage the most productive use of land? So if we value wilderness, then a tax break seems like the correct way to facilitate that.

mikeyouse 10y ago

You're not joking.. The guy who's in charge of Trump's EPA transition thinks that climate change is a hoax, that the Clean Power Plan is illegal, that the Endangered Species Act should be repealed, that the Paris Climate Agreement is unconstitutional. The likely pick to head the DOE is a lobbyist for the oil industry who wants to open up Federal lands for energy exploration. Good lord this election is going to have far-reaching consequences.

knowaveragejoe 10y ago
My understanding is that there are other options he could go with, but it is indeed alarming that the seeming "top pick" would be this guy of all people. It's a shame.
- mikeyouse 10y ago
  Yeah, Myron Ebell is the person I'm referring to for the EPA. He's the odds on favorite to get the job in the end, but today he's leading the team to transition the department to a Trump White House. Even if he doesn't end up with the job, he's the person picking the eventual department head.
losteric 10y ago
It's not just Trump, the entire government is seeing red. The Republicans have control of the House, Senate, Presidency, and they will take control of the Judicial branch as well. It's a conservative wet dream. In four years, we'll either have a 1-party system or an N-party system.
- M_Grey 10y ago
  Given the republican track record, in 4 years we'll be in a serious economic crisis, at least one war, and they'll be incredibly unpopular. Fortunately for them, they're well funded and well gerrymandered.
  - germinalphrase 10y ago

hkmurakami 10y ago

I've always wondered when development pressures will reclaim the open space and nature preserves we have in the Bay Area. Perhaps this is it.

hx87 10y ago
Depends on how strong vertical NIMBY is compared to horizontal NIMBY. I hope the latter is stronger.

wnevets 10y ago

hillary had those emails tho, so its ok.

AnOscelot 10y ago

One organization I support is the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance[1]. For those of you that care about the redrock desert, please look into them. They were very effective in the Bush years and I'm hoping they will be again. [1] suwa.org

jyriand 10y ago

There's a great documentary "You've been trumped" about Trump's great ambition to build a golf course to Scotland. This is a nice example what the future president thinks about nature and wilderness. Full doc seems to be available in youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCfaYlRyTGA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCfaYlRyTGA

odbol_ 10y ago

Be prepared for Trump Towers in every National Forest. It's going to be YUUUUGE.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

Shivetya 10y ago

Well if they do sell some of it then its an idea time for those who can and want to protect the environment long term step forward. People need to see it as an opportunity and then take it.