Signed by Governor Matt Mead

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that appropriates funds for the study and management of public lands, effective immediately.

Highlights:

• Appropriates $75,000 from the state fund to the Office of State Lands and Investments to commission a study and hire consultants to provide a report addressing management of specified federally administered public lands by the state (Sec. 2).

• Requires the study to include certain information, including, but not limited to, the following information (Sec. 1):
• The identification of public lands to be managed and the interests rights and uses associated with those lands;
• The development of a proposed plan for the administration, management and continued public access to the lands for hunting, fishing, and recreational purposes; and
• The economic analysis concerning the management of the public lands and the comparison of the likely cost of state management versus federal management. 

• Exempts current congressionally designated wilderness areas, national conservation areas or lands currently administered by the Department of Energy, the Department of Defense, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Park Service from the study (Sec. 1).

• Requires the Office of State Lands and Investments to regularly provide updates and submit a final report on the study to the Federal Natural Management Committee no later than November 30th, 2016 (Sec. 1).

Full Bill Text

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that appropriates funds for the study and management of public lands, effective immediately.

Highlights:

• Appropriates $75,000 from the state fund to the Office of State Lands and Investments to commission a study and hire consultants to provide a report addressing management of specified federally administered public lands by the state (Sec. 2).

• Requires the study to include certain information, including, but not limited to, the following information (Sec. 1):
• The identification of public lands to be managed and the interests rights and uses associated with those lands;
• The development of a proposed plan for the administration, management and continued public access to the lands for hunting, fishing, and recreational purposes; and
• The economic analysis concerning the management of the public lands and the comparison of the likely cost of state management versus federal management. 

• Exempts current congressionally designated wilderness areas, national conservation areas or lands currently administered by the Department of Energy, the Department of Defense, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Park Service from the study (Sec. 1).

• Requires the Office of State Lands and Investments to regularly provide updates and submit a final report on the study to the Federal Natural Management Committee no later than November 30th, 2016 (Sec. 1).

Full Bill Text