This Land Is Our Land
A 1911 ruling by the U.S. Supreme court found that “…all the public lands of the nation are held in trust for the people of the whole country.” Sounds good. But we’d better take a look at LC 2912, a bill now under consideration in the Montana Legislature.
The public lands principle holds today in the federal ownership and management of lands in Montana. Hunting, fishing, hiking, camping… no matter what the specific interest, Montanans regard the ability to recreate on those lands as an essential right. Unfortunately, our own Legislature is now considering a bill that would compromise those rights. “Land transfer” would allow federal land ownership to be given to the states. Given the current disaffection with Washington D.C., the idea might sound attractive.
However, Montanans should look closely at this policy’s consequences. If federal lands were transferred to the state, the state would assume the costs of managing them. In this era of uncontrollable wildfires, those costs could be astronomical. Montana residents would assume responsibility for them. The only alternative to more taxes would be land sales to private parties. There is no shortage of out-of-state billionaires who would be only too happy to oblige. We have all seen what happens to access then.
Outdoor recreationists aren’t the only stakeholders who would be affected. Tourism is our second largest economic driver, and a lot of visitors come to enjoy our federal public lands. Many Montana communities depend on those tourist dollars to survive. Running livestock on lands managed by the Forest Service or BLM at reduced rates is crucial to many Montana ranchers. Does anyone think the state would be able to afford that benefit, or that private landowners would continue it?
Most of the impetus for land transfer has originated in Utah. In legal matters between state and federal governments, a lawsuit can proceed directly to the U.S. Supreme Court without passing through the lower courts. That’s what Utah did with an action that would require land transfer there. Fortunately, in January, the Supreme Court declined to hear the matter. That decision highlights the weak legal case for land transfer. It also suggests that if political forces in Montana elect to pursue the issue, that would precipitate a long round of litigation paid for by Montana taxpayers.
LC 2912 - it hasn’t been introduced so it doesn’t have a bill number yet - is a joint resolution that, if passed, would support Utah in its further attempts to seize federal lands there. Should LC 2912 pass, it would establish a terrible precedent for other Western states with large tracts of federal land, including ours, not to mention states with another 640 million acres of federal land around the country.
While opposition to land transfer has been led by outdoor recreationists, we all need to think this through. Polls consistently show overwhelming bipartisan opposition to land transfer in Montana. Members of the stakeholder groups mentioned above have a lot to lose. We all need to contact our representatives and tell them to oppose LC 2912.
- Don Thomas, Lewistown
