>>508102849
Yes. For the first 100+ years of our national existence the US government was funded partly by federal land sales to private entities. It was cash up front and guaranteed future tax revenues for local, state, and the federal governments via development. Even when the national forst system was created, the intent behind it was for it to be sustainably logged in perpetuity, have dams and reservoirs built to provide cheap power, mined to produce mineral wealth, and recreated in when not being actively utilized. Surplus land not suitable for logging, mining, damming, etc. was to be sold or leased. It was never EVER intended to be a de fact untouchable system of pristine wilderness. It's time to put that land to good use again. Keep the wilderness areas, keep the national parks, and get back to sustainably exploiting BLM and National Forest land.
