Press Release

New Report Analyzes the Economic and Environmental Implications of Federally Managed Lands

New Report Analyzes the Economic and Environmental Implications of Federally Managed Lands
Click here to see the report

Arlington, VA (September 2, 2015)—In the 12 continental states from Colorado west, more than 50 percent of the land is controlled by the federal government, while only 4 percent of eastern lands are part of the federal estate, according to the new report, Federally Managed Lands in the West: The Economic and Environmental Implications for the States, released today by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

Written by Karla Jones, Director of the ALEC Task Force on International Relations and Federalism, the report provides insight into which states are burdened by federally managed lands and how states can serve as stronger environmental stewards of the lands within their borders.


2015 Map_ State Factor_Federal Land_High

“Federal control of public lands that rightfully should be under state administration has led to environmental and economic mismanagement,” said Karla Jones, director of the ALEC Task Force on International Relations and Federalism. “It is encouraging, however, that the western states are petitioning for control, which will benefit the lands inside their borders and both their state economies and the national economy.”

During the 2015 state legislative sessions, numerous transfer of public lands bills were adopted or considered, and legislation was introduced in both houses of Congress that would give the western states the authority to develop energy resources on the federal lands inside their boundaries. These petitions typically exempt national parks, Congressionally-designated wilderness areas, tribal lands and military installations.

The report also highlights Canada as a successful case study on the transfer of public lands. Canada has begun transferring federal lands in their territories from national to territorial control in a process called devolution.

“Canada’s transfer experience coupled with America’s own during the nineteenth century should embolden the U.S. today to transfer select federal lands to state control,” said Jones. “State sovereignty at its most basic is the ability to control lands within state boundaries. This right that was given to America’s eastern states is being denied to the Western states.”

To download a copy of Federally Managed Lands in the West, visit www.alec.org/publications/2015federallands.


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