Many residents of the Rocky Mountain West have been up in arms lately over the President's plan to sell off public lands. Their new hero may be an unlikely one: Idaho Republican Senator Larry Craig, who said he won't let the plan make it through his Senate subcommittee.

Craig, who controls the Senate Subcommittee on Public Lands, believes selling public lands is bad policy. His spokesman told a reporter, "I don't really see it going anywhere in Congress."

The Bush proposal would sell off 300,000 acres of national forest land to fund rural education programs. Privatizing public lands often surfaces as a plan, and tends to draw bipartisan disapproval. During the Reagan administration, a similar idea was floated, though on a much broader scale. It never came to pass.

For a map of proposed lands for sale, click here.

The plan is now in a public comment period. To comment, send an email to SRS_Land_Sales@fs.fed.us.

Image credit: Forest Service