Transfer of Federal Lands to the States

dave54 wrote:
Getting the Feds out of the public lands management has been to intent all along.

John Wesley Powell, in his explorations and mapping of the interior west, proposed the state boundaries be aligned to watershed boundaries and have local control of the federal owned land. The forerunner to the BLM – the General Land Office – was formed with the mission of the orderly transfer of the unappropriated federal lands to state and private ownership.

Teddy Roosevelt created the Forest Service, and then transferred the Forest Reserves (renamed National Forests) to the Forest Service to facilitate local rural economic development by increasing timber harvests. Supporting local communities and promoting rural economic development is still a legal mandate of the Forest Service.

In 2000, presidential candidate Al Gore proposed local control of federal lands as part of his campaign platform. In 2004 John Kerry had the same position. Obama had no official position on public lands in 2008 or 2012 other than a generalized statement about federal lands be managed according the best science available. Please note science generally supports local control and decision making.

The urban sprawl that now characterizes Las Vegas is directly due to the BLM selling their southern Nevada land holdings to private developers. Before the sales Las Vegas city limits were basically hemmed in by BLM lands. The funds raised from the sales were supposed to be used for purchasing land at Lake Tahoe for government ownership (Burton-Santini Act). Much of it was diverted to other programs.

In most states, the state forests are in better health and more productive than the nearby National Forests. In California the state forests, besides being in better shape and healthier, actually turn a profit from timber sales. The Forest Service used to (FS was the third largest source of revenue for the U.S. Treasury, after the IRS and offshore oil leasing), but environmentalists and federal judges ended that. The revenue from timber sales was shared with the local counties (25%), earmarked for schools and roads. Another 10% was retained by the FS for roads and trails, and some more could be retained by the FS to be used for reforestation, wildlife, watershed, recreation, and other uses on the land directly affected by the timber sale. With the decline in timber sales the revenue for these programs also declined. Remember this the next time you encounter an unmaintained trail or run-down NF campground. Funding came from timber sales.

The U.S. Constitution is vague on whether the federal government even has the authority own large swaths of land (Article 1, sec 8). But the SCOTUS has ruled they do have authority, so the argument is moot. The Constitution does require consent of the state legislature before acquiring land for federal ownership. Commonly ignored by the government.