Our local federal land management agency, under pressure from our illustrious vice-commander in chief and his oil company cronnies, has just electronically delivered 477 pages of text for their land use plan that is being revised.

These pages contain the decisions that will guide use of these public lands for the next 15 years, or so. A land area larger than some states. The gist of most of the changes in management are to open more lands to gas and coalbed methane development, and reduce environmental protections that slow profit taking from those lands.

These 477 pages of rhetoric, which have the land use changes buried in there somewhere, are provided so that we may be properly prepared to discuss and settle these decisions at the next meeting.

On 1 December.

Happy Holidays.