Navajo Nation plans to sue over massive mine waste spill
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — One of the nation's largest American Indian tribes is planning to sue over damages caused by a massive mine waste spill in southwestern Colorado.
Read moreTime Is Running Out For N.M. Forests
Letter to the Editor Regarding Wildfires in New Mexico
In The News, April 22, 2015
Today's Headlines:
State Officials Upset with U.S. Forest Service Cuts Want Wisconsin to Manage the Forests; Forest Service is Mismanaging our Public Lands; Land Transfer Resolution Passes through Nevada Senate.
Read moreIn The News, April 6, 2015
Today's Headlines:
The U.S. Department of Land-Hogging; Rep. Rob Bishop Plans Public Lands Hearings on Federal Ownership; Visiting State Rep. Speaks at GOP Dinner; Amodei Introduces Large-Scale Land Transfer Bill; Letter: Stewards of Our Forests; Public Lands Debate Marred by Camouflaged Activists; Nevadans Should Have Say on Land Management Policy; Letter: Forest Service Missteps Erode Confidence in Organization;
Read morePERC Report on Federal Lands Mismanagement
The Property and Environmental Research Center has released a report entitled "Divided Lands: State vs. Federal Management in the West."
Summary
"Nearly half of the western United States is owned by the federal government. In recent years, several western states have considered resolutions demanding that the federal government transfer much of this land to state ownership. These efforts are motivated by concerns over federal land management, including restrictions on natural resources development, poor land stewardship, limitations on access, and low financial returns.
"This 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."
Read more3 Minute Message - 03/04/2015
This week, a rally was held in the Utah State Rotunda, attended mostly by members of so-called environmental groups who make their living by suing the federal government over mismanagement of public lands.
The County Seat TV took their crew to the capitol and interviews many attendees, asking the simple question, "what is your definition of, or understanding of the Transfer of Public Lands?" Listening to the answers of attendees reveals the rhetoric of fear that has been promoted by opponents to the Transfer of Public Lands, rather than giving people the facts so that they can make informed decisions.
Read more3 Minute Message - 02/25/2015
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."
Read more3 Minute Message - 02/18/2015
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.
Read moreIn the News, February 13, 2015
Today's Headlines:
New Mexico Bill Calls for study of Controlling Federal Land; States Would be Better Stewards of Most Federal Lands.
Read moreDivided Lands: State vs. Federal Management in the West
By Holly Fretwell and Shawn Regan
There is a great divide in the United States. Land in the East is mostly privately owned, while nearly half of the land in the West is owned by the federal government. In recent years, several western states have passed, introduced, or considered resolutions demanding that the federal government transfer much of this land to state ownership. These efforts are motivated by local concerns over federal land management, including restrictions on natural resource development, poor land stewardship, limitations on access, and low financial returns.
Read moreIn The News, February 2, 2015
Today's Headlines:
Exploring Public Land Transfers; Idaho Panel Calls for Collaboration on Federal Land Takeover; Public Lands Transfer Legislation Advances in Wyoming Legislature; Land Commissioner says his Office Could Manage Federal Lands; Committee Weighs Benefits on Transferring Federal Land to State; Viewpoint: Halting Public Land Sales, Studying Land Transfer Next Step for Montana; Time to Fulfill State's Land-Grant Promise; US Rep. Zinke: It's Time to Take a Stand on Public Lands.
Read moreNew Mexico Lawmaker: State, Not Feds, Should Manage its Land
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."
Read moreIntertech Public Land Management Report Tables: New Mexico
Research tables providing statistics on New Mexico's Public Lands revenue by Intertech Research.
In the News, November 11, 2014
Today's Headlines: Coffman Urges the President to Increase Wildfire Prevention Funding; How to not get killed (or arrested) while watching wildlife; Millions wasted on 'wrong solutions' to fire prevention -- study; PAUL GESSING AND CARL GRAHAM: It’s federal government that’s doing ‘land grab’; National Forest amends Land Management Plan; Is possible San Rafael Swell state park another Utah land grab?; Making a (better) case for forest restoration; Grand Canyon National Park Proposing Increase In Fees To Help Pay For Repairs, Maintenance; Alaska’s Murkowski seeks more drilling, faster permits with energy plan
Read moreIn the News, November 10, 2014
Today's Headlines: Gartersnake protection lawsuit to cite grazing; Cow Prices Jump Over the Moon; Top federal officials gathered in Boise say endangered listing for sage grouse can be avoided; Supervisors endorse making Lake Berryessa a national monument; Federal parks, monuments to waive fees; My Turn: Somerville's opinion hypocritical; A trail divided: Future of Mantua-area public lands stirs debate; Will Cell Phone Companies Ruin National Parks by Installing Wi-Fi in the Wilderness?; Commission asks for congressman to aid in ranching dispute
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In the News, November 7, 2014
Today's Headlines: Murkowski readies for reins of Senate Energy; Scott Clem wins state race for Campbell County; Ecosystem expert says landowners key to saving endangered species; NM oil production pushing US closer to energy independence, industry official says; Fees waived at national forests for Veterans Day weekend; Victory: PLF and People for the Ethical Treatment of Property Owners defeat unconstitutional Endangered Species Act regulation; BLM asks drivers to watch for wild horses on roads; OFF LIMITS: Ruling prohibits roads, building, mining on forest lands; Commentary: It’s time to tell EPA and the Corps: Ditch the rule
Read moreIn The News, November 5, 2014
Today's Headlines: Openshaw: Mr. Bureaucrat, may I please have a drink of water?; Healthy Public Lands Mean Healthy Economies | Commentary; Reader View: Feds are the real land-grabbers; BLM plans controlled burns this month; Dianne Feinstein may ask Obama to bypass Congress to protect Mojave sites; Possible fee increases at local National Parks
Read moreIn the News, Nobember 4, 2014
Today's Headlines: Tale of the West and beyond: Where laws end, tyranny begins; DuBois Column; PILT payment needs to be guarantee; Landgrab: Idaho couple fights long land battle with BLM; State lawmaker wants to take over BLM-managed Little Sahara; A new push for protecting public lands in the desert; New Maps Promote Lake Mead National Recreation Area's "Accessible Wilderness"; This Beautiful Bird Might Thwart the Oil and Gas Industry's Drilling Plans
Read moreReply to Heinrich - The only one “seizing” federal lands is Uncle Sam
In the News, November 3, 2014
Today's Headlines: Time for an Endangered Species Act makeover; The only one ‘seizing’ federal lands is Uncle Sam; Utah Governor Pushing For Regulatory Primacy on Federal Lands; Washington County condemns BLM for Recapture Canyon closure, Blanding; calls for reopening; ‘Grass March’ Turned Out to Be Final Ride for Original Sagebrush Rebel.
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ENOUGH OF THE RHETORIC BY THE GREEN ENVIRONMENTALISTS IT’S TIME FOR TRUE BLUE CONSERVATION
Aubrey L. Dunn, Candidate for New Mexico State Land Commissioner
On one of the walls in the New York Natural History Museum, is a partial quote from 1910 by President Theodore Roosevelt which in its full form states that:
“[c]onservation means development as much as it does protection. I recognize the right and duty of this generation to develop and use the natural resources of our land; but I do not recognize the right to waste them, or to rob, by wasteful means, the generations that come after us.”
In the News, October 29th 2014
Today's Headlines: Sen. Reid quietly moves to block development of 800,000 acres in central Nevada; Ranchers talk transferring fed's land to states; State Sovereignty at Its Most Basic: Control of Land; Feeling pushed by lands ‘poll’? Sutherland Soapbox, 10/21/14
Read moreState Sovereignty is, at its Most Basic, The Control of Land
by Karla Jones
State sovereignty at its most basic is the ability of a state to control its own land. Earlier this month, 95 state and locally elected officials joined a variety of experts from 14 states in Salt Lake City to draft and ratify a statement calling for land currently held by the federal government to be transferred to the states. Officials at the summit included Alaska’s Lieutenant Governor Mead Treadwell; Utah Speaker of the House Becky Lockhart and state Senator Jennifer Fielder of Montana.
Read moreIn the News Sept. 22-Oct 19, 2014
Today's Headlines: EPA water proposal is stirring up Senate race; House Candidates Zinke & Lewis Battle Over Public Lands; Klamath County Proclamation on the Transfer of Public Lands Act; Interior secretary urges Congress to act; Forest Fires Versus Radiation: A Lesson on How to Fail; Why is the U.S. importing coal?; PLC to explore states' involvement in public land management; Forest Service can’t hide its road closure plans
Read moreIn the News October 16-21 2014
Today's Headlines: Commissioner pleads not guilty to charges stemming from ATV protest ride; Richard Leib: Just Leave Us Alone; Simpson Makes Another Run at Central Idaho Wilderness; Grazing Wars: Grass March Cowboys Ride to Capitol Hill; SAN GABRIELS: Locals have mountains of questions on new monument; Lawmakers vent to feds, assert forest fire inaction; The West’s Fight for Self-Government; BLM Employees Charged Taxpayers $799,000 for 'Gift Cards'; Commissioner Leads Charge For County to Jump in Water Lawsuit; Harvey attends American Lands Council conference
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Oct 2014 Press Conference
This 34 minute Press Conference answers many of the questions people have about the Transfer of Public Lands. Share this with your friends, family colleagues and elected officials and help dispel the myths.
