Issue Position: Public Lands

Nearly 70 percent of the land in Utah, and 50 percent in the western United States, is controlled by the federal government. The compact between the state of Utah and the federal government at the time of the formation of the state, provided for the feds to take stewardship over the land until it could be sold. This compact allowed them to keep 95% of the revenue from the sale but required they give 5% back to the state for use in education. This has never been done.

The responsibility of the federal government was to "dispose of" the land; it was never meant for them to hold it in reserve for no productive purpose and cut off the ability of states to utilize it for their own growth and funding.

Because the citizens of Utah have no access to nearly 70% of their land for their own management or development, the burden is on all of the states, through federal expenditures, to upkeep and maintain the land. The federal government hasn't even been very successful at that, though the cost to taxpayers of maintaining western lands is significant at about $13 billion per year.

Taxpayers will also be further on the hook for the $15 billion in deferred maintenance in the nation's western national parks, all while the locked-up mineral value of these very lands is assessed at $150 trillion. Add to this the fact that when states manage lands, they're able to turn that responsibility into revenue of $6.29 per acre, while federally managed lands cost taxpayers $1.86 per acre.

It's time for the federal government to honor the promises made to the current western states, just as it eventually did for the previously "western" states of Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Indiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. After Thomas Hart Benton, a Democrat U.S. senator from Missouri, pushed the federal government for many years to honor its commitments, they finally did, and those states were freed from the constraints of federal land control policy.

For far too long Washington DC has controlled the West. I've had enough of their mismanagement, I've had enough of them blocking our ability to responsibly manage OUR lands and I've had enough at their attempt at population control. Over 65% of our state is controlled by the Federal government. 90% of Utah's population lives on 1% of our ground. We are one of the fastest growing states in the nation, yet we aren't able to properly plan our infrastructure needs to support this growth, are limited in our efforts to expand commerce and restricted in our ability to fund our schools.

Why is it that 38 states have been recognized as sovereign, yet 12 states in the West remain under federal control? It represents the worst gerrymandering in the history of this country as those in DC seek to limit our representation and influence. And what do we get as a consolation prize? It is called PILT which is the acronym for Payment In lieu of Taxes -- in my mind, a more appropriate term would be Pennies In lieu of Trillions.

And speaking of trillions, I'm done listening to a dysfunctional Federal Government that is $20 trillion in debt and telling us they can manage ANYTHING better than we can. I have a message for them -- in Utah we get things done and we will always manage EVERYTHING better than they do.

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