The ongoing debate over federal protected land has many people on edge, and a change in governmental policies regarding these spaces may have impacts on the ways people get to enjoy the land. At the heart of the debate is the federal Bureau Of Land Management, and BLM land that is controlled by them that sits within the boundaries of states. Those who consider themselves outdoorsman, adventurers and hunters have great concerns about a recent push to release federal land to the control of the states, who may sell the land off for development. Hunters are aligned with conservationists in this regard. Hunting is big business in the rural West and Wyoming, and this industry brings in roughly $25 million into Albany County in Wyoming economy alone. The protected BLM lands and spaces are predominantly situated in the Western United States when it comes to the discussion of them being in danger. Pressure has mounted lately to open these lands up to the fossil fuel industry, and especially oil, gas and coal.
The debate over transfer of BLM land to the state’s control has become an official part of the Republican platform, and at their party’s 2016 convention in Cleveland last summer, Republicans included an addition calling for the transfer of ownership of federal land to states. Many believe this would not be prudent because rural states like Wyoming do not have the budget or capacity to effectively manage the thousands of acres of land that would come under their control. Many believe that states with budget issues would be forced to sell off the land to developers in order to balance their budgets, effectively taking access to these spaces away from hunters and outdoorsman. President elect Trump has not yet clarified his position on the subject, however he may be influenced by his youngest son who is an avid hunter and a member of conservationist groups that oppose the transfer. The younger Trump is said to have been influential in his father’s pick of Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke, to be interior secretary. Zinke is opposed to the idea of transfer of federal lands to state control.
To put this into perspective, about half of all the land in Wyoming is controlled by the federal government. This land is enjoyed by outdoorsman and hunters who would lose much of this space if it was to be sold for fossil fuel development. The battle is starting in the state legislature of Wyoming, where lawmakers are considering a proposed constitutional amendment that would lay the groundwork for Wyoming to own and manage federal public land by 2019. This would need the GOP controlled congress to move ahead with the plan. Wyoming’s Republican Governor Matt Mead questioned the legality of transferring federal lands in the first place. He also wondered how his state would pay for things like battling wildfires, a bill that’s usually picked up by the federal government. The forcing of state control of these spaces would almost assure that the states would then need to sell off large pieces of them just to avoid the costs of management, which would change the face of the open spaces of the United States forever.
All we can do is hope that President Trump sees things the same way as Teddy Roosevelt did, that the open spaces of the United States and the National Parks that protect the beauty of these areas deserve protection.