Reclaiming federal land has strong allure in West
By Nigel Duara, Los Angeles Times
American Lands Council promises cash-strapped Western communities a chance to win back federal acreage
Utah has passed legislation demanding return of all federal land; experts say it will never happen
Proponent sums up Western land transfer movement: ‘It’s the principle’
Spread over 6,500 miles of sparse scrub and alkaline soil, Millard County is one of Utah’s poorest. But for five years, the cash-strapped county so remote it was the site of a Japanese American internment camp in World War II still found $1,000 to send to the American Lands Council.
The Lands Council’s goal is grand but simple: to wrest control of vast swaths of land from the federal government and turn them over to the states.
At stake are hundreds of millions of dollars, even billions, that could be made off land administered by the federal government. The big-dollar opportunities include oil leases in Utah grassland, all-terrain vehicle tourism in Arizona and rare-earth mineral mining in Nevada.
This would be a disaster.
Worth a discussion.
Why would it be a disaster? How well are the Feds managing all that land? Not very well at all.
Centralized control is never as efficient or as comprehensive as local control. The states live in and with their lands and know the issues. Washington DC is a bubble, entirely removed from any understanding of the west and its people.
I believe local land management would be a vast improvement.
Dog, the evidence is not in your favor.
please take a look at this editorial and note Fallacy #1.
Fallacy 1: Westerners think there is too much national land, it is holding back economic growth, and the states could do a better job of managing it.
Fact: The Western economy has outperformed the rest of the U.S. in terms of growth in employment, population, and personal income during the last four decades in part due to the popularity of national lands. As far as there being too much public lands, a new study shows that on a per resident basis, Western states have more land under private, state and local ownership than many Eastern states. In a recent poll of Westerners, the majority of people across most of the political and ideological spectrum oppose the idea of transferring national lands to the states. The states of Utah, Idaho and Nevada recently studied the costs associated with taking over national lands and all three studies showed that only under very extreme assumptions, and without accounting for the hundreds of millions of dollars to fight wild fires, it might be possible for the states not to lose money. Most of the scenarios studied showed the states losing money, meaning they would need to raise taxes and sell off lands to maintain balanced budgets.
see the whole list at. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ann_morgan/ten-ways-those-who-want-t_b_7181556.html
Rick
Public lands are in most ways managed locally. Yes, broad policies are set a national level, but local plans (business, resource, outreach) are largely local and in response to State, County, and local interests.
Plus, last time I checked, it wasn’t like “local” government was overflowing with either funding or brain power to fix our resource issues…
LEAVE OUR PUBLIC LANDS ALONE. These lands belong to all citizens of the USA and if they get turned over to the states they will be sold to corporate land rapers as fast as you can survey the land. If this ever happened (and I dont believe it ever will) there will be a civil war and it wont be pretty..
Ha nature bats…belongs to all people….yeah, as long as we have the same activities as you…walking or hiking. Put a motor out there and see how public those lands are. I claim discrimantion against the handicapp and elderly for the lack of access to places they went to as kids. And civil war..lmao..with what? Harsh language? I thought lefty hippies like you hated guns? Or is that only for people that dont think like you…freakin hilarious!!
BO. you are an A. h @ / €
Yeah, because the Feds NEVER EVER do dirty deals with the “corporate land rapers”. . . Please.
Bats, your trust in the Federal government is mind boggling, to say the least.
Dawg you fail to understand the point that the corporations (in many cases) are perverting the government and denying the will of the people.
Example 1: Citizens United (which you oddly love)
Prunes. WHEN have I ever claimed to “love” Citizens United? I don’t even know who they are or what they stand for.
Quit making crap up. You only demean yourself.
Dogism-mind boggling
True or false: You support Citizens United.
Notice how she doesn’t deny that she supports Citizens United and won’t answer any question clarifying her position.
Because I don’t answer your question immediately, I am somehow avoiding answering you?
As I said: I have no idea who they are or what they stand for. How could you imagine I support them when I don’t even know who they are???
You’re being obtuse.
Not knowing about the horrific damage to our country caused by the the conservative SCOTUS ‘Citizens United’ case shows what myopic/willfully ignorant people are using for information-pathetic
Totaled, nobody knows everything that everybody does regarding every single situation.
I don’t know who Citizens United is. Therefore, I am pathetic and ignorant?? Please.
Do you know the Libertarian Party platform verbatim? Do you know who their candidates are? Do you know what party/position Penn Jillette is running for? Without googling it?
Popping in to insult people does nothing to further the discussion.
Ignorance is bliss…
Then you must be pretty doggoned happy, Bats.
OHHHhhhhooo
Hold on a minute. The United States of America purchased the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803. The United States of America made a deal with Britain in 1846 for the Oregon Territory. The United States of America fought (as did some of my ancestors) the Mexican American War that gave us a great deal of the land from Mexico in 1847.
I have no idea who the “American Lands Council” is, but they have NO claim to any Federal Land. Que up Woodie Guthrie.
American lands council is just like citizens united. Read about both groups and follow the money.
‘I don’t know who Citizens United is. Therefore, I am pathetic and ignorant’
Its the more important Supreme Court case in decades. Therefore, yes.
Duke, I went to American lands council website. Its a cover group for mining, gas, timber, ranching groups all wanting a piece of our public lands to have for their own use. The members are mostly teabaggers and hail from most western states. They are definately not for public access on public lands.
Interesting, I’ll check it out. Thanks for the heads up.