Gohmert Unveils Federal Footprint Map at Heritage Foundation

Statement

Yesterday, during a presentation at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., Rep. Louie Gohmert (TX-01) unveiled The Natural Resources Committee's Federal Footprint Map, which demonstrably illustrates the gargantuan scale of federal land ownership and regulation within the United States. He released the following statement on the impact and scope of the map:

"The House Natural Resources Committee's Federal Footprint Map is quite illuminating. This research tool provides vital information, and illustrates just how overreaching the federal land grab has been within the United States."

"Looking at this interactive map, it's easier to comprehend the alarming fact that the federal government owns three out of every ten acres in the U.S. This is more than 640 million acres of land, or the size of six Californias --and that does not even count all the land owned by State and local governments or land locked up in conservation trusts. This map allows you to study where and what these federal lands are, and it helps you understand how far the federal government reaches in, owning 28% of the total land in this country."

"Not only have we taken away too much land from the States and local governments, we can't take care of what we own. We have deferred maintenance needs in the tens of billions of dollars on federal land including national parks that we will never be able to fund."

"It is my hope that this excellent product, tirelessly crafted by our staff in our Committee on Natural Resources, will play a vital role in eliminating the sweeping federal red tape and resource regulation throughout the nation. Bureaucrats should never have the right to own or control every little puddle, stream, hill, valley, and patch of land in our country."

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