Wyoming Joins Suit Over Federal Control Of Lands

The map below shows land under federal control in the U.S.

Large sections of Western states, like Wyoming, do not control most of the land in their borders.

In August, Utah filed a lawsuit against the federal government, arguing that it’s unconstitutional for the federal government to retain unappropriated land in a state indefinitely.

A dozen other states filed briefs in support of Utah's suit.

Those states include. Idaho, Alaska, and Wyoming,

Joining the states are a coalition of counties in Arizona and New Mexico.

The Pacific Legal Foundation, the Utah Legislature, and the Wyoming Legislature have also filed briefs supporting the lawsuit.

“The federal burden in the West infringes on our sovereignty and undermines our equality with other States, all in direct violation of the Constitution,” said Rep. Harriet Hagemen, R-Wyo..

 

Hageman joined Utah’s congressional delegation as they filed a brief in support of the Supreme Court’s review of Utah’s complaint.

The website “Stand For Our Land” was set up by the State of Utah and makes the case that the Bureau of Land Management restricts public use of federal lands which hurts the state's ability to manage its own land.

The lawsuit only applies to unappropriated lands. Those are lands that the federal government holds without any clear congressional designation. 

It “is instead directed at the tens of millions of additional acreage that is owned by the federal government for no reason other than to dictate and control land use policy in the West,” Hageman said.

Nearly 70% of the state of Utah is owned by the Federal Government. Nevada comes in at 85% of its land in federal control.  “unappropriated.” In Wyoming, it's 46.7%,

As the West was populated millions of acres were unsettled. These remained under the federal government’s control.

In 1976, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) reaffirmed federal authority over public lands.

But at the same time that act required the federal government to involve states and local governments in management decisions.

The tipping point for the lawsuit was the BLM’s Public Lands Rule. The rule sets aside large swaths of land to be untouched. Under the new rules energy development, ranching, hiking, recreating or farming can not happen there.

“Transferring these lands to state and local control will result in the implementation of better management practices and policies, provide for more accountability, and prevent the federal government from blocking their productive use. It has been shown time and again that states are more qualified, effective, and better prepared to manage real property within their boundaries, while also limiting the problems associated with insect infestations, catastrophic forest fires, and invasive weed species,” Hageman said.

The case involves some 200 million archers of Western land.