Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah has introduced a bill to “dispose,” or sell off, 3.3 million acres of federal public land across 10 states — an area the size of Connecticut, reports The Guardian.
The Wilderness Society calls the move “step two” of the GOP’s strategy to take public land out of federal hands, after the Republican House passed a rule allowing the government to sell off federal lands without requiring revenue from the transaction.
“The 10 states affected [by Chaffetz’ bill] are Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming. Residents can see how much acreage is earmarked for ‘disposal’ in their counties by checking a PDF on Chaffetz’ website,” says The Guardian.
The land in question is managed by the Bureau of Land Management for a wide range of activities from hunting and fishing to timber and livestock grazing. But in a press release, Chaffetz said that the land serves “no purpose for taxpayers.”
Chaffetz, along with other Utah legislators, has advocated giving back all federal public lands to the states in which they lie, arguing that local officials are better able to administer the land than bureaucrats in Washington. Environmentalists and outdoorsmen fear that a public-lands transfer would end up more oil and gas leases and less public access.