Axe dept of Interior and Agriculture?

[Jimbo]

So reading through another thread a poster stated a desire to get rid of the department of interior and agriculture. Having grown up in Wyoming were those two departments administer 48% of the state I started thinking how this would work and what would happen to the land.

First the land would have to go to someone or the state, and the first thought I had was a auction to private individuals. I must admit the thought of houses going up in some of my favorite areas to hike, camp, fish, and enjoy nature almost made me vomit. I would not like to see Yellowstone, the Tetons, the Winds, Bighorns, Beartooths, and the Absarokas go to a private auction and end up like the front range of Colorado.

So I began thinking of other options, and if this was to happen I would say the best bet is sell it to the state. This way the Parks, National Parks, and BLM lands would stay close to status quo and be more tied to the state and locals.

So what are other people's thoughts? I love visiting National Forest, and National Park lands and realize their importance to the people of our country. May just be nostalgic, but I do think having the open spaces helps tie us back to our country's beginning days and its beginning ideals.

[highsea]

Why should the state have to buy land it should already own? If it's public lands, turn it over the the state and let them decide what to do with it.

Keep the national parks as national parks. People would freak out if you turned them over to the states.

But turn over the BLM lands and the rest to the states, give the tribes title to their own lands, and tell that absentee landlord in D.C. to go to hell. :Dancing-Banana:

Land within the state that the federal government wants to use- like military bases should be leased from the state.

[DOR]

So reading through another thread a poster stated a desire to get rid of the department of interior and agriculture. . .

The Department of the Interior has a few other responsibilities that would have to be either scrapped (mostly a really bad idea) or passed over to another entity, at no savings:

-Bureau of Reclamation is the largest water wholesaler. Anyone want to buy the Hoover Dam?
-Minerals Management System and Office of Surface Mining govern mines
-Fish and Wildlife Services is big on conservation.
-US Geological Survey maps

As for the Department of Agriculture,

-USDA Foreign Agricultural Service is critical to food exports
-Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is self-explanatory. Mad cow burgers, anyone?
-Food Safety and Inspection Service, too. Would you like e-coli with that, sir?

These are just some of the obvious areas where government has an important role to play.

[highsea]

We can't scrap them entirely- there are certain things that are needed like FDA.

But there is a rationalization that can be made. For example, we don't need 100+ separate bureaucracies spread out among the various alphabet agencies for low-income food assistance. It can all be administered from one agency.

One problem- one agency.

[Jimbo]

Why should the state have to buy land it should already own? If it's public lands, turn it over the the state and let them decide what to do with it.

Keep the national parks as national parks. People would freak out if you turned them over to the states.

But turn over the BLM lands and the rest to the states, give the tribes title to their own lands, and tell that absentee landlord in D.C. to go to hell. :Dancing-Banana:

Land within the state that the federal government wants to use- like military bases should be leased from the state.

Highsea,

I agree, and furthermore I trust those millions of dollars the land would sell for far more in the hands of the Wyo legislature then Congress. I only wrote sell because I think that a lot of reps and senators would fight hard to go that route.

And DOR with all due respect I grew up in Wyoming and am very familiar with these departments. My dad just retired from the National Park Service and my mom was a NPS ranger as well back in the day, when it comes to Dept of Interior and Ag I know my stuff. Powell, WY (the town I grew up in) is a direct result of the Shoshone Irrigation project a joint venture between private investors and Bureau of Reclamation.

Dept of Interior is everywhere as BLM land and Yellowstone National Park 76 miles away. Dept of Ag is also big as they currently manage the National Forests. As for U.S. Wildlife, the local Wyoming Game and Fish have to do more and generally do just as good if not a better job. U.S. Wildlife deals mostly with endangered species, such as gunning down entire trouble wolf packs from the air. Wyoming Game and Fish are the ones who do the majority of work regarding the wildlife in the National Forests, BLM, and other lands.

I love the parks and forests, but I am confident that Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, and even the now blue state of Colorado would be able to do just fine in managing the land, and even in control of National Parks. Most of the personnel in BLM and USFS in Wyoming are already locals/westerners. Anything the Feds do in managing the land, I am confident that the states could do just as well if not better.

[Jimbo]

We can't scrap them entirely- there are certain things that are needed like FDA.

But there is a rationalization that can be made. For example, we don't need 100+ separate bureaucracies spread out among the various alphabet agencies for low-income food assistance. It can all be administered from one agency.

One problem- one agency.

Agreed, and in this case the Feds are the best suited for tasks. Having said that FDA could use some work. I had typed up an elaborate post detailing how the FDA is in effect extorting pharmaceutical manufacturer's, but as a family member working there could get in trouble, I decided against it. Suffice to say the FDA needs to have a good house cleaning.

[bonehead]

Agreed, and in this case the Feds are the best suited for tasks. Having said that FDA could use some work. I had typed up an elaborate post detailing how the FDA is in effect extorting pharmaceutical manufacturer's, but as a family member working there could get in trouble, I decided against it. Suffice to say the FDA needs to have a good house cleaning.

Housecleaning would only be a band-aid at this point. The FDA needs to be torn down and rebuilt. Its new motto/mission statement should be,"to protect the people". Then safeguards have to be put in place to distance the FDA from pharmaceutical companies and big food corporations.