Montana joint resolution to transfer federal public land

[Customweld]

Most state constitutions enforce some combination of provisions that would force states to sell most if not all of the federal lands received in a move like this.

- balanced budget requirements
- state lands have to be managed to generate profit
- state lands need to have their proceeds appropriated for specific uses


So eg Wyoming would have to sell all public lands received because of 1+2 in their constitution. A loss making piece of land would immediately be sold, profitable lands likely donw the line when someone challenges them on whether they are getting maximum revenue.


I believe most states have similar rules. When I talked to people in Utah who have hunted and guided there all their lives when the original lawsuit started, they were terrified. They said 100% certain that they would lose access.

Idaho is much the same. This paragraph is on the front page of IDL's webpage:
"Land Board policy allows for public recreation on endowment lands provided those activities do not degrade the lands, interfere with management activities, or otherwise negatively affect the long-term financial return to beneficiaries."
Which tells you that recreation is on the bottom rung of priorities.
This is also from their webpage:
Article IX, Section 8 of the Idaho Constitution mandates that state endowment trust lands must be managed to secure the maximum long-term financial return to the endowment beneficiaries.

Revenue-generating activities on endowment lands and earnings from invested funds provide millions of dollars annually in support of Idaho’s public school system and numerous other state of Idaho institutions. In addition to providing financial support to the nine beneficiaries, endowment lands may also benefit the citizens of Idaho by providing access for recreational pursuits, so long as recreation activities are consistent with the constitutional mandate

 

[chanson_roland]

Some of y'all ok with losing and selling even 1 acre of Public Land is crazy.

I don't agree with how a lot of it is being managed, sure. But selling it? Not even getting a chance to have a say in its management? That is absurd. Our public lands are one of the best things about this country that are still left.

I don't think enough people have traveled to other countries without public land for hunting and fishing. Absolutely NONE. I'm talking about Western, developed countries with much better healthcare, education, public transportation, etc., than we have in the USA.

Places where the wild game is owned not by the state or the public but by royal families. You kill something, and they send you to big boy jail.

So, everyone sits around drinking coffee, having deep intellectual conversations about metaphysics because it's damn near impossible to go hunting or fishing unless you've got a long name with a lot of consonants and a Hapsburg lip.

Our public land system isn't perfect, but it's WAY better than anything else in the world.

See this bad boy right here? Untouchable.

"A Republic, if you can keep it"

 

[mostlybirch]

These lands are ours to steward so our future generations can enjoy wild places and hunt wild game. The temporary budgetary shortcomings of state or federal governments, which in all likelihood would barely be dented by private land sales, are so insignificant to the incredibly rare gift we have in America.

On another note, as someone who has worked for Canadian mining companies on BLM land across the west and has a solid grasp on the permitting process to explore and build roads and generally tear stuff up: any commentary from politicians about "opening locked up land" comes across as total nonsense. I can submit paperwork and be cutting 5 acres of disturbance in less than 30 days. So this is all a pretext for completely dismantling the organizations and privatization of our common lands.

Ironically, staff shortages at the BLM/FS INCREASES the permitting time for mining companies.

 

[goathunter]

BHA seems like they are the best voice for things like this, hope they get after it

 

[grainhog]

BHA seems like they are the best voice for things like this, hope they get after it

I don't pay dues, I don't attend their social events, but I may start, because the bottom line is they appear to be light-years ahead of any other comparable organization in their efforts to communicate what's going on and to activate people in Helena.