Earlier this month, the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC) released a Working Paper of Public Lands Report. This independent study compares state and federal land management in the West. It examines the revenues and expenditures associated with federal land management and "compares them with state trust land management in four western states: Montana, Idaho, New Mexico, and Arizona. The report explains why revenues and expenditures differ between state and federal land agencies and discusses several possible implications of transferring federal lands to the states."

Throughout the United States, several states are working simultaneously on bills to help improve the health, access, and productivity of our public lands. These bills are helping to look towards the transfer of those public lands to the states wherein they lie, as a means to help preserve them for generations to come, while still providing for the access we all cherish and the productivity we rely on.

By Commissioner Jim Chmelik

Idaho County, Idaho

Saying Idaho Deputy Attorney General Steve Strack has the final word on the legality of disposing public lands is like saying Stephen Douglas had the final words in his defense of slavery during his presidential debates against Abraham Lincoln.

"If you don't read the newspaper, you're uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you're mis-informed."

- Mark Twain

Biased media. It seems to be the norm these days. In reality, it has always been the case that choosing where to get your news is the most crucial determining factor in what news you get...so choose carefully.

By Ken Ivory

You have likely seen the red and white map - the federal government controls more than 50 percent of all land in the western states, but less than 5 percent of lands in states east of Colorado. Why the difference?

Several have asserted it is because western lands are arid; therefore, the federal government keeps them forever. Oregon, Washington, and Alaska are the states with the most precipitation, and yet they have 53 percent, 45 percent, and 62 percent federally controlled lands respectively. So much for "arid."

By Tom Kuglin, Independent Record

Federal land management has become one of the hottest political issues this election season, and front and center in the debate are lawsuits filed by environmental groups challenging timber sales as well as listing decisions under the Endangered Species Act.

Yet it is another law, the Equal Access to Justice Act, which opponents of the lawsuits say is unfairly rewarding lawyers of environmental groups by often awarding attorney fees paid for with tax dollars. Environmental groups say the law holds the federal government accountable, and what attorney fees play a critical role in their efforts to protect wildlife and habitat.

All around the nation, legislative sessions are in the works or coming around the corner and Transfer of Public Lands legislation is an important topic on the minds of lawmakers and constituents alike.

there is active legislation in AZ, CO, MT, NM, NV, UT, WA, WY, NH, and TX. As those bills move forward, we will give you more information on them. Today, I want to share with you an article by Senator Jennifer Fielder, concerning the TPL legislation that is currently in the works in her beautiful state of Montana.

By Brigette Russell

Santa Fe, N.M. - State Rep. Yvette Herrell, R - Alamogordo, says New Mexico can do a better job managing its land than the federal government. She plans to file a bill creating the New Mexico Land Management Study Committee later this week.

"My county, Otero County, has 60,000 residents, and only 12 percent of our land is taxable." Herrell said. "We expect the county to provide roads, fire protection, police, jails, all the services people need without the tax base we need to do it."

By: Darin Bushman, Piute County, Utah Commissioner

Environmental organizations have made a business of suing the Federal Government over its mismanagement of public lands. A simple Google search will reveal pages of litigation. However, a strange turn of events has unfolded in the last 12 months as the Transfer of Public Lands movement has gain traction in the west.

Recently, I received a letter from William E. Smith, P.E., a consulting civil engineer from the state of Montana, who had been studying the recently released report, "An Analysis of A Transfer of Federal Lands to the State of Utah." I asked him if he would allow me to share his insights with all of you and he generously agreed.