PUBLIC LANDS: Colo. panel votes to have 'discussion' on takeover of federal property
Jennifer Yachnin, E&E reporter: Greenwire: Friday, April 24, 2015
DENVER -- Colorado state lawmakers waded into the fight over whether states should seek to control federal lands for the second time this week, as a state Senate committee yesterday approved a proposal to study the benefits of taking over the Centennial State's nearly 24 million acres of federal land.
The Colorado Senate Agriculture, Natural Resources and Energy Committee voted 5-4, along party lines, to approve legislation to establish the Colorado Federal Land Management Commission.
"This is nothing more than a study, as is the case in a number of other Western states that are doing the same thing," said state Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg (R), who leads the Agriculture panel and co-sponsored the bill.
"This mandates nothing with regard to the transfer or sale or lease or disposal of federal lands," Sonnenberg added. "It only looks at every tool in the toolbox to see if this is an option; to see what option may be viable, if any; to see if it makes sense for us to manage our federal lands as a state or maybe even as a county. To have that discussion is what this bill is about."
The bill would create a 15-member panel composed of county commissioners, with representation weighted toward those areas of the state with significant federal lands.
But the bill has drawn opposition in the state from sportsmen's groups, conservation advocates and environmentalists, who argue that the measure is little more than a first step in an effort to sell off public lands and reduce access.
Opponents to the bill outnumbered supporters 3-to-1 during public comments at the hearing, with many questioning the cost of the study as well as the proposed makeup of the commission.
"By focusing on county commissioners, there's a lot of other stakeholders in the state of Colorado who aren't going to be represented on this commission, and that's very bothersome," said former Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission Chairman John Singletary.
Singletary also challenged state Sen. Ellen Roberts' (R) assertion that the commission would do little more than submit two reports, one in April 2016 and another in April 2017, to the Senate committee.
"If you really look at what the desire of those proponents to do is to sell public lands ... I just hope it's not the first step of finding a means to dispose of public lands for profit," Singletary said, later adding: "You say it doesn't matter, but recommendations are going to be made, and someone has to deal with those. That's my fear."
Opponents of the bills also countered that the state cannot merely seize control of federal lands should the study recommend that it do so.
Utah Gov. Gary Herbert (R) signed a bill in 2012 demanding that the federal government relinquish about 30 million acres of federal land in the Beehive State by 2014, but no such transfer has occurred, and the state has yet to pursue a case in federal court.
The Republican National Committee endorsed states "taking back" federal lands in a 2014 resolution, and House Republicans have called for federal lands sales to control the federal deficit.
The Colorado bill now moves to the full Republican-controlled Senate, which earlier this week approved a measure that would give state and local authorities concurrent jurisdiction over federal forests and other lands (Greenwire, April 21). That bill is aimed at allowing local authorities to better address fires on federal lands.
But both measures face a likely uphill battle in the state House, which is controlled by Democrats.
