Dear editor:
Harriet Hageman does know better.
This is sort of in response to a June 19 Letter to the Editor that stated "Harriet Hageman should know better," and sort of not.
As a former fed - 9 years as a geologist with the Bureau of Land Management - I'm very familiar with the fact that the federal government does not own "federal lands."
No. The public does.
Ditto with regard to state lands, county lands, city lands - We the People, the American Public, own these lands. These various government agencies administer - manage - these lands on our behalf. Period. We are the owners of these lands.
As the geologist for a BLM field office, I had to regularly consult land patents. These document the land ownership, both surface and minerals, and other provisions for each parcel of land, and if/how each has changed hands over the years.
Rep. Hageman does know better. As a "natural resource" attorney with some 20 years' experience, she should be very familiar with land patents and their provisions. Therefore, she knows that the federal government does not own federal lands - that we do.
Therefore, you must ask why she continues to claim the opposite. And, not just one or twice, like it was a slip of the tongue. No. Repeatedly. And, in writing. What's wrong with this picture? Ditto with regard to everyone who states the opposite of the truth.
She has now very clearly joined all the other sell-outs in Washington, DC, including Sens. Barrasso and Lummis. They, too, have "gone along to get along," much to our detriment. Despite many Wyomingites not wanting to see it or believe it.
Why do we keep sending sell-outs to the land of sell-out (aka DC), and expect them to not sell us out?
When will we learn our lesson, and expend the effort needed to dig up and carefully weigh someone's track record before we vote them into or to retain a position of authority?
When will we heed the motto of insurance and credit score companies - "past performance is the best predictor of future results?"
Sincerely
Kerry Aggen, Buffalo
