PUBLIC LANDS: Utah Republicans form House panel focused on transferring federal tracts
Corbin Hiar, E&E reporter: E&E News: Wednesday, April 29, 2015
A pair of Utah Republicans yesterday announced the formation of a congressional panel committed to developing a legislative framework for transferring federal lands to local ownership and control.
The Federal Land Action Group will be led by sophomore Rep. Chris Stewart of Utah. Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop, who is also from the Beehive State, helped launch the panel.
"The federal government has been a lousy landlord for Western states, and we simply think the states can do it better," Stewart said. "If we want healthier forests, better access to public lands, more consistent funding for public education and more reliable energy development, it makes sense to have local control."
Utah state lawmakers passed a legally ambiguous law three years ago demanding that the U.S. government relinquish the 31.2 million acres it owns there (Land Letter, March 1, 2012).
Bishop's committee will have jurisdiction over any legislation the panel produces to force the federal land transfers his state colleagues called for.
"This group will explore legal and historical background in order to determine the best congressional action needed to return these lands back to the rightful owners," Bishop said. "We have assembled a strong team of lawmakers, and I look forward to formulating a plan that reminds the federal government it should leave the job of land management to those who know best."
The other members of the all-Republican panel: Reps. Mark Amodei and Cresent Hardy of Nevada, Diane Black of Tennessee, Jeff Duncan of South Carolina and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming.
But the Center for Western Priorities, a Denver-based conservation group, was quick to slam the panel.
"This new group and its goals are an affront to every American who shares in our national heritage," said Jessica Goad, the center's advocacy director. "Turning over our national lands to the states would be extremely costly to taxpayers and would seriously restrict access to the places where we recreate. Members of this group are wasting their time and are doomed to lose in the court of public opinion."
A nonpartisan poll released earlier this year found that voters across the West view protecting natural areas as a top priority and, regardless of party affiliation, don't support selling off federal lands to reduce the deficit (E&ENews PM, Feb. 10).
