Bush Forest Plan Halted By Strong Opposition

"A Bush administration proposal to sell 300,000 acres of national forest land — a quarter of it in California — to raise money for rural counties has been shelved amid widespread opposition.

Congress refused to move the legislation this summer, and groups that typically ally themselves with the president, such as the National Rifle Assn., came out against the measure, spelling its doom in this congressional session...

Also dead is an accompanying administration proposal to require the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the federal government's largest landowner, to dramatically boost its land sales to raise $350 million over the next decade.

The demise of the proposals marks the second recent defeat for efforts to sell substantial public holdings."