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you’re thinking too narrowly, my FRiend

in the National Park System there are currently about 500 concessions leases which net a whole whopping $1 billion. We take in more than that in admission fees. We should evaluate the concession leases with an eye to increase revenue and let private industry modernize the parks. If Disneyland can make billions, why can’t we? (the feds also help subsidize state parks - in California for instance only 4.6% of state parks are self-funding. Cut them loose and let the states find private industry to modernize their parks, too).

How much could be raised by allowing claimants to buy back, at rates set by existing law, their grazing, mining, water leases stolen by uncle dearest over the last 10 years?

and look at the west, 30% federal ownership of Montana, 45% of California and 85% federal ownership of Nevada. Sure some of that can never be developed, too mountainous, remote, blah, blah, but a lot of it can be. Since land is checkerboarded in the west, a landowner of a section can easily find himself surrounded by federal land. If I had land that shared a lot line with federal land, I’d probably want to buy some of it. Landowners mean taxpayers who fund roads and infrastructure which brings business. If we’re going to compete with the world, we need more land producing more products and jobs.

we’ve probably raised a few trillion right there, and that’s just for starters

Ugh. Yosemite as Disneyland? It’s bad enough with the renaming as it is.

There are many other ways to raise revenue than eviscerate natural wonders.

No, that’s not thinking narrowly, that’s thinking of future generations. “The Grand Canyon presented by Universal Studios” with waterslides and people-movers? No thank you very much.