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WHERE WE'VE BEEN
The month of September has found us spending quite a bit of time with our friends in sunny Arizona. We had a wonderful visit with great patriots from various groups. Government officials and the public in general can all come to agreement on the fact that the Transfer of Public Lands is The Only Solution Big Enough to deal with the pressing issues of our nation.
In September, we also began a series of Executive Briefings in Northern and Southern Utah. We met with a number of community "titans" providing a 30 minute briefing on the Transfer of Public Lands initiative. Through these briefings we are able to show that if we fail to secure the same rights of statehood to better care for our lands and utilize our abundant resources, it won't be because it is illegal, unconstitutional or impossible -- it will only be because we and our leaders lack the knowledge and the courage to do what has already been done before -- repeatedly! Let us know if you would like to schedule a series of executive briefings in your area.
The State Policy Network annual conference in Oklahoma was also a wonderful opportunity to see just how far this movement has gone, and the momentum with which it is moving forward. People are beginning to understand that compelling Congress to transfer the public lands to the western states is crucial to the well-being of all states...not just those of us in the west. As western states become more independent and grow their own economies, the eastern states will be able to stop paying untold billions in order to keep the west from utilizing our own resources to educate our own children and care for our own communities. We continue to be excited about the numerous states, including those in the east, that are preparing legislation for the upcoming legislative sessions to bring about this critical transfer of our public lands.
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This week, we are holding a multi-state conference where more than 100 legislators, attorneys, commissioners, think-tanks and grassroots organizations will meet and coordinate a multi-state strategy to compel congress to honor the same statehood promise to our western states to transfer title to the public lands that it kept with Hawaii and all states east of Colorado.
This conference will be an opportunity to come together with experts in the areas of state vs. federal land management, national issue campaigns, legislative strategy, and the legal/constitutional game plans concerning the Transfer of Public Lands Act; and most importantly to strategize with one another in coordinating states' efforts.
We anticipate that the working ties created amongst this group will be crucial to bringing to pass the transfer of our public lands to the states, as was guaranteed in our states' enabling acts. We will, of course, continue to keep you informed on the progress of this critical mission.
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MOVING RIGHT ALONG
As we've already mentioned, our Multi-State Coordination Conference is one of the biggest focuses for the American Lands Council this month, but are also excited to be able to travel to both Washington and Idaho where we will meet with several Farm Bureaus among others. We are looking forward to more upcoming trips to Oregon, Montana, Arizona, Washington and Idaho.
We continue to present several Executive Briefings for small groups of county associations, associations of governments, farm bureaus, chambers of commerce and other high leverage groups of influence throughout the various states. If you have contacts that you think could help move this effort forward, please contact Becky, and she will be more than happy to help you with arrangements for a presentation in your area.
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| I hope you are realizing that this truly is a "wonderful time to be alive...we're lucky not to live in pale and timid times. We've been blessed with the opportunity to stand for something -- for liberty and freedom and fairness. And these are things worth fighting for, worth devoting our lives to. And we have good reason to be hopeful and optimistic.
"We've made much progress already. So, let us go forth with good cheer and stout hearts -- happy warriors out to seize back a country and a world to freedom." - Ronald Reagan (March 8, 1995)
Thank you for your continued support. |
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