BILL WOULD GIVE MISSOURI SAY OVER FED LAND SALES

A Missouri Senate committee has approved a House-passed bill requiring the two chambers to give the federal government permission to acquire Missouri land for parks, reforestation and American Indian casinos.

Impetus for the bill came from concerns Missourians have regarding the federal government's land acquisitions, especially in the Ozark counties of southern Missouri, and for the unchecked spread of Indian gaming in other states.

According to the bill's sponsor, House majority leader Wayne Crump, D-Potosi, says it is a needed safeguard he became aware of after learning that the feds were seeking to buy more private land to add to the Mark Twain National Forest in Washington County. This federal preserve stretches across vast areas of southern Missouri.

Crump told the Senate committee that the federal government is piling up money through offshore drilling programs to purchase more national forest land in Missouri and other states. "There are some counties that are now 20 percent owned by the federal government," said Crump. "This would actually let senators and representatives know what's going on and know whether or not it is good for their districts."

Under the bill, the Legislature would have to give the legal go-ahead before a federal agency could acquire land for recreation, reforestation or agricultural use. Embedded in the U.S. Constitution is a provision that requires Congress to receive states' consent before taking land. Crump's bill would amend Missouri's law, long on the books, that provides for giving the state's consent.

Opponents, including the Sierra Club, contend the bill would infringe on private property rights. There's a real prize-winning whopper for you. This would have to be the first known expression of concern by the greener-than-thou Sierra Clubbers for the property rights they so routinely trample on.

Good for Crump. We see nothing wrong and plenty right with creating a mechanism for knowing how much land the feds are adding to the immense tracts they already own.