(
Claire Moser)
A proposal to seize and sell off America’s national forests and other
public lands could make its way into the House GOP’s budget resolution
when it is announced this week.
In a recent
memo
to the House Budget Committee, Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT), chair of the
House Natural Resources Committee, proposed that America’s public lands
be transferred to state control. He then requested $50 million of
taxpayer money to be spent to enable transfers to “start immediately.”
The memo states that public lands “create a burden for the surrounding
states and communities,” and “the solution is to convey land without
strings to state, local, and tribal governments.”
Bishop’s plan and similar
proposals to give away America’s public lands are controversial. A
majority of voters in those regions believe the proposals would likely
result in states having to
raise taxes, open prized recreation areas to drilling and mining, or sell lands to private interests to cover the substantial
costs of management.
Despite these concerns — and despite the fact that these proposals are extremely
expensive,
unpopular, and most importantly,
unconstitutional
— there is a strong likelihood that Rep. Bishop’s request will be
included in the House GOP’s budget, thanks to intensive lobbying efforts
by a handful of right-wing politicians and special interest groups.
As reported by
E&E Daily,
the American Lands Council (ALC), an organization founded by Utah state
Rep. Ken Ivory (R), hired a lobbyist at the end of last year to
“educate congressional lawmakers on the benefits of relinquishing
federal lands to the states.” Federal lobbying
disclosure formsshow that the ALC paid the lobbyist, Michael Swenson, $150,000 for just three months of lobbying work.
Swenson, whose other clients include a
Utah mining company,
has denied being paid the sum. He told E&E the lobbying disclosure
form was a “mistake,” and that he was paid just $20,000 in the last
quarter of 2014.
ALC’s lobbying payments have drawn additional scrutiny because the
organization’s budget is dependent on taxpayer money, contributed by
county governments in the West. According to the
Center for Western Priorities
(CWP), 47 county governments have spent a total of more than $219,000
for ALC membership. Most of these county governments receive substantial
federal grant money through the Payment in Lieu of Taxes Program
(PILT), raising questions about whether American taxpayer dollars are
being channeled to fund lobbying of the federal government. A federal
law, known as the
Byrd Amendment, prohibits the use of federal funds from a grant to be used for lobbying federal officials.
A recent flood of state-level proposals to seize and sell off
America’s public lands is the result, in part, of efforts by the
Koch-backed American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) to disseminate ‘
model legislation’ to conservative lawmakers in Western states.
The state of Utah is thus far the only state to have passed such a
measure, however. In 2012, the Utah legislature passed a bill demanding
public lands be transferred to state control by December 2014. The state
plans to sue the federal government and is currently accepting
proposals to launch a
$2 million fight.
Politicians in
nine other states
are also developing and advancing similar legislative proposals,
supported by expensive taxpayer-funded studies. According to a CWP
analysis, Western states have spent a total of
$816,000of taxpayer funds on such studies in recent years.
Whether Rep. Bishop’s proposal makes it into the House GOP budget or
not, the Congressman has made it clear that disposing of national
forests and public lands will be one of his top priorities as chair. The
House Republican majority is expected to release its 2016 budget
resolution
this week.
