There are more sweetheart deals. These roads are used solely by the timber industry, which removes millions of dollars worth of trees, and are only useful until the trees are gone. Have you ever noticed that when the topic of protecting old growth forests come up, lobbyists for Weyerhaeuser and Georgia Pacific start wringing their hands over the loss of jobs in the Pacific Northwest. American jobs and American forests hemorrhage, and the American taxpayer is left holding the bill. The logging interests are not alone.
Mineral extraction is an industry that has been on the public dole for more than a hundred years.
The subsidy comes in the form of allowing these corporations to pull our natural resources from the ground while continuing to pay 1872 rates for the privilege. Grazing on public lands continues apace. That golden cow has yet to be touched because wealthy landowners keep western politicians on tight reins. If the rancher barons were required to pay full market value for grazing fees on public lands, I'm sure a lot less steak would find its way onto the dinner plate, and we would have a lot more money to protect and enhance public lands. Try this subsidy on for size.