Thousands of people converged on the Statehouse on Saturday to raise their voices that Idaho’s Public Lands must remain in public hands not private. In the past several years, a number of Republican Legislators have pursued legislation to “take back” public lands from the federal government.
More than 60% of Idaho is public land and is administered by the Bureau of Land Management, the US Forest Service and National Parks Service. According to a 2012 poll from the Idaho Outdoor Business Council, 73% of Idahoans approve of the work done by federal land management agencies to protect and preserve public land (IdahoLandSeizureFactsheet_2017).
Article 4, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution gives Congress exclusive authority over federal property, “without limitation.” When Idaho became a state, “…the people of the state of Idaho [did] agree and declare that we forever disclaim all right and title to the unappropriated public lands lying within the boundaries thereof…” 
When the Idaho legislature was considering a 2016 bill claiming that the total transfer of U.S. public lands was guaranteed at statehood, Idaho’s own Attorney General Lawrence Wasden issued a legal opinion concluding that “this premise has no support in the law” (IdahoLandSeizureFactsheet_2017).
Despite whether Idaho could legally take back these lands, we are not fiscally in a position to do so. The US Forest Service and BLM employs thousands of people – a price tag that the state cannot afford. And consider the increasing intensity of our fire seasons and the increasing level of funding needed to fight fire in our state. The bills would be crippling. And how would the state pay for all that without federal support? Selling that land, perhaps? That is the fear and that is the risk that thousands of Idahoans do not want to take.
In 2015, U.S. land management agencies spent $2.1 billion on fire suppression and prevention. If Idaho managed all of its public lands, it would have to cover this cost—to put it into perspective, the state’s law enforcement budget in 2014 was $55 million (IdahoLandSeizureFactsheet_2017).
Year after year, recreationalists and sportsmen continue to show up in droves telling politicians to “keep your hands off our public lands.” We need to respect our heritage, protect our lands for future generations, and stop wasting taxpayer money on efforts to take back public lands. I will continue to stand with you and fiercely oppose any legislation that will endanger our legacy to access our public lands.