Transfer of Federal Lands to the States

highplainsdrifter wrote:
I have presented some factual information on this thread debunking the myth that it is illegal for the feds to own/manage federal land. I have also posted some convincing evidence (and stated my opinion based on experience) that if the states get control, they will have to overdevelop and/or sell much of the land because they will be "compelled" to use a for-profit management model...

No, you did not. You offered a link to an opinion piece that does not address the underlying issue -- the original constitutionality of the laws cited in the article. You get partial credit in your argument because federal courts have already ruled the feds can own land; the article did not cite the court rulings.

In the second part you offered only anecdotal accounts of how some states manage land. I offered other examples where states have managed the land very well and in the public interest. The blanket statement all states will sell them off is not supported.

In the interest of full disclosure, I am retired from the Forest Service and do not support giving all federal lands back to the states. I do support giving local government (counties, local communities) a greater voice in the management. The 'federal ownership, local control' model has been advocated back to the 19th century, and was the premise upon which the Forest Service was created, and later the BLM. It is not a liberal/conservative division, as democratic presdential candidates Gore in 2000 and Kerry in 2004 had federal ownership local control as part of their platforms. Now the republican candidates are adopting the issue ( or a variation of it).

We saw in the recent Forest Service MVUM process how the environmental industry tried to hijack the OHV issue and ban boondocking. Fortunately, their attemps failed. FS managers are not all indifferent bureaucrats or wacko tree huggers. Most support boondocking and multiple use, improving the resources while supporting local communities. Unfortunately, their hands often get tied by well intentioned but badly written laws, and contradictory ever-changing court decision. Narrow twisted legal logic usually trumps good sound science based resource management.