About Public Land Transfers currently proposed by the 115th Congress (*H.R. 621 & **H.R. 622)
NOTE: The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has nothing to gain, is not guided by partisan politics, nor beholden to the miscreants we sometimes elect to represent us when it undertakes the economic unrealities of proposed legislation. Its entire function is to establish unblemished arithmetic to these projects – long term and short term.
[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n this proposed Public Lands Transfer by Rep. Jason Chaffetz (HR – Utah) and cohort Rob Bishop of Utah (HR), the CBO provided estimates of the costs of proposed public lands transfers by evaluating the economic impacts of existing uses such as energy development and logging.
Multiple studies show that individual states are ill-equipped to shoulder the costs of managing lands currently owned by the public and, if they took ownership of these lands, would ultimately be forced to sell them to private interests
Backcountry Hunters & Anglers (BHA) decried the Public Land Transfer theft
“As the 115th Congress enters its first week, some of our elected officials are wasting no time in paving the way to steal our outdoor heritage,” said Land Tawney, BHA President, and CEO. “Buried in a litany of other measures is language inserted by Congressman Rob Bishop of Utah (HR) that would make it easier to give away America’s public lands. For sportsmen, this provision sticks out like a sore thumb. If it’s a fight they want, they’ve got one coming – and I’m betting on public lands hunters and anglers.”
* Directs the Secretary of Interior to sell off and dispose of public lands in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming.
** Local Enforcement for Local Lands Act also was proposed by Rep. Chaffetz in early 2016. The bill would “terminate the law enforcement functions of the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management” and have far reaching negative impacts at a time where law enforcement on public lands is lacking, and serious problems like travel management and irresponsible OHV use grow unchecked.
NOTE: Featured Image is of Land Tawney fly fishing on Public Land that he hopes his son, in tow, will also get to fish. Image credit Stalking The Seam.
