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Land sale in forest is off, Keller says

Posted May 10, 2006

A Bush administration proposal to sell almost 1,000 acres in the Ocala National Forest is dead, according to U.S. Rep. Ric Keller and environmentalists who blasted the idea as a shortsighted solution to raise money for rural counties.

Keller, R-Orlando, and other critics Tuesday applauded a House subcommittee's decision not to include in a 2006-07 spending bill a plan to sell thousands of acres in national forests. The land sales would generate up to $800 million to help pay for roads and schools in rural areas including Lake and Marion counties.

"It effectively kills the sale of the Ocala National Forest," Keller said. "I think it's a dangerous precedent to sell off national forest lands whenever there's a funding shortfall."

Despite Keller's glee, a U.S. Forest Service official said the proposal is still alive. Forest Service officials have said the 300,000 acres targeted in 35 states are remote and hard to maintain, representing only a sliver of 193 million acres of national forests.

"There are many steps left in the legislative process, and clearly there's much work ahead," said spokesman Dan Jiron, noting the proposal also must be considered by several other committees.

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