Western States Begin to Push Back
http://www.tpnn.com/2014/04/21/western-states-begin-to-push-back/
April 21, 2014 By
Despite the fact that the states created the federal government, not the other way around, the federal government greedily claims ownership of over half (52%) of the land in the western states. In fact, the U.S. Constitution (Article I, Section 8, Clause 17) authorizes the U.S. government to own land for very limited purposes outside of Washington, DC, none of which include protecting the environment, preserving the “desert tortoise,” or because some politician wakes up one morning desiring to confiscate more land from states. On the heels of the Bundy Ranch standoff, now some western states are pushing back against federal government land encroachment, as Friday representatives from several western states (UT, ID, NM, AZ, NV, WY, OR, and WA) met for a a “Legislative Summit on the Transfer of Public Lands.” “Those of us who live in the rural areas know how to take care of lands,” said Montana state Senator Jennifer Fielder at a news conference. “We have to start managing these lands. It’s the right thing to do for our people, for our environment, for our economy and for our freedoms.” According to the Congressional Research Service, 93% of the land the feds claim to own is located in among the 13 western states. Feds claim ownership of enormous parts of several western states, including:
- Nevada – 81% Governor Brian Edward Sandoval, Republican
- Alaska – 62% Governor Sean R. Parnell, Republican
- Utah – 67% Governor Gary Richard Herbert Republican
- Oregon – 53% Governor John Albert Kitzhaber, Democrat
- Idaho – 62% Governor Clement Leroy “Butch” Otter, Republican
- Arizona – 42% Governor Jan Brewer, Republican
- California – 48% Governor Jerry Brown, Democrat
- Wyoming – 48% Governor Matthew Hansen “Matt” Mead, Republican
- New Mexico – 35% Governor Susana Martinez, Republican
- Colorado – 36% Governor John Wright Hickenlooper, Jr., Democrat
“There is a distinct difference in the way federal agencies are managing the federal lands today,” Montana state Senator Jennifer Fielder explained, saying that the agencies formerly did a good job managing the lands, but are “hamstrung now with conflicting policies, politicized science, and an extreme financial crisis at the national level. It makes it impossible for these federal agencies to manage the lands responsibly anymore.”
The dispute at the Bundy Ranch in Nevada may have provided fuel to an already fiery debate over federal usurpation of state land.
At the public lands summit, Utah House Speaker said, “What happened in Nevada [Bundy Ranch] is really just a symptom of a much larger problem.”
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