PUBLIC LANDS: Western states rev up push to reclaim federal acres
Published: Monday, March 26, 2012
Last week, Utah's governor signed a bill petitioning the federal government to cede 20 million acres of land back to the state. And other states in the West -- Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana and New Mexico -- are considering or will soon consider similar legislation.
In Utah, where the federal government owns most of the land, the state also appears to be revving up to take the issue to the courts. The state is preparing lawsuits to recover thousands of sections of road that go through federal lands. Utah contends those roads should fall under state and local jurisdiction. The lawsuits could be filed as early as next month.
Those who support the Western states' pursuit of land rights point to congressional promises from the 1800s, which maintained that the federal government's control of national forests, rangelands and parks there was only temporary.
States' rights fervor on the issue has come up previously in state legislatures -- but to little avail. And legal experts don't hold out much hope for the recent claims.
"The core of it is that if somebody said to you, 'You don't own your house, I do,' you would pull out a deed -- that's what the federal government will do," said Charles Wilkinson, who teaches federal public land law at the University of Colorado (Kirk Johnson, New York Times, March 23). -- WW
