Update, Feb. 10, 3:30 p.m.:
After much debate in the Wyoming Senate, a resolution to transfer wide swaths of federal land to the state failed Monday.
Supporters have long argued the feds are mismanaging millions of surface acres and mineral rights, but some state senators argued that demanding Congress give Wyoming the land wouldn’t hold any weight.
Others voted it down to protect public access. Lawmakers had amended the resolution to let the feds keep national parks, monuments, forests, wilderness areas and other public land, but for many, that wasn’t enough.
Sen. Ogden Driskill (R-Devils Tower) had given the resolution a slim majority in a previous reading after it failed the first time last week. This resurrected the bill, but Driskill eventually switched sides again to vote it down.
The resolution failed in a tie vote and also failed a motion to vote again. Environmentalists are applauding the result.
Update, Feb. 6, 5:30 p.m.:
A Wyoming resolution calling for the U.S. Congress to hand over all state federal lands, except Yellowstone National Park, has been resurrected.
Earlier Thursday afternoon, state senators voted 14-16 to kill the resolution. But in another close vote a couple hours later, lawmakers agreed to reconsider the topic, and it passed 16-15.
Sen. Ogden Driskill (R-Devils Tower) changed his vote to “aye.” Sen. Tim French (R-Powell), who was excused earlier in the day, also voted in favor.
The resolution will need to pass two more readings in the Senate, before heading to the House.
Update, Feb. 6, 2:17 p.m.:
The majority of Wyoming senators have voted against a resolution calling on Congress to give over 30 million acres of federal land to the state, including Grand Teton National Park.
Sen. Mike Gierau (D-Jackson) argued that national parks are critical to Wyoming and his district.
“It’s part of our DNA. It’s part of our soul,” said Gireau, adding he's received more calls about this than anything else this session.
A lot of the discussion came down to confusion about what would happen to federal mineral rights and split estates. Sen. Eric Barlow (R-Gillette) wasn’t so convinced state ownership would be any better.
“I’m going from a federally held land to a state land, so explain to me how that’s better,” Barlow said.
But some lawmakers said it’s time for Wyoming to take its land back, including millions of acres of mineral rights.
“I would much rather prefer the state of Wyoming benefit from the minerals within our border than the United States federal government that wants to not produce them in the first place,” said Sen. Bo Biteman (R-Ranchester).
Meanwhile, environmental groups are cheering the bill’s fate.
“The concept of disposing of all our public lands to state control has never been popular with the public and continues to be an affront to all public land users,” Alec Underwood, program director for the Wyoming Outdoor Council, said in a press release. “It’s clear that many Wyomingites spoke up on this issue, and legislators listened.”
Wyoming business owners are also applauding the vote.
“The transfer of these lands to the state would inevitably lead to lost access and privatization,” said Lauren Heerschap, owner of Riverton-based manufacturer Brunton International, LLC, in a press release. “While we celebrate today’s victory for public lands and the businesses and people who depend on them, we’ll stay vigilant for future efforts from the state and from Washington, DC to take these lands away from us.”
Ultimately, the resolution failed 14-16.
Original story, Feb. 4, 4 p.m.:
The U.S. Supreme Court recently rejected Utah’s lawsuit to claim public lands within its borders, but some Western states are already exploring other ways to gain control.
In Wyoming, state lawmakers are calling on Congress to give over 30 million acres, about half of the land in the state, and even more mineral rights.
Senate Joint Resolution 2 says the feds can keep Yellowstone National Park, but Grand Teton National Park and Devils Tower National Monument are still on the table, in addition to wide swaths of national forest and Bureau of Land Management land.
Last week, State Sen. Tim French (R-Powell) told concerned Wyomingites that the state could “easily handle” all those acres.
“I’d much rather yourself, everybody in here, everybody across the room have a real say in what’s going on instead of the feds doing it, because I’ve witnessed what they have done,” French said at a Senate Agriculture, State and Public Lands & Water Resources Committee meeting on Jan. 30.
French is a member of a revived movement arguing the feds are mismanaging land within state borders and that their control violates part of the constitution.
“It’s about can [Congress] indefinitely retain these lands [that] by the letter of the supreme law of the land, they’re mandated to dispose?” explained Sen. Bob Ide (R-Casper), who’s sponsoring the resolution.
It claims Wyoming is entitled to “exercise sovereignty and jurisdiction over all of the territory” outlined in its act of admission under the equal footing doctrine in the constitution, arguing Wyoming should have the same political rights and territorial sovereignty as the original states.
Utah has made a similar argument, supported in court by Wyoming, Idaho, the Arizona Legislature and a handful of counties in New Mexico.
But many say this logic isn’t legally sound. According to Alec Underwood, with the Wyoming Outdoor Council, there’s “over 100 years of case laws showing that this is legally impossible.”
Underwood also questioned how Wyoming would manage the huge influx of land, roads and trail networks, not to mention taking over the costs and management of wildfires. Others wondered whether the land would stay publicly accessible.
“There’s no guarantee that at some point, five years, 10 years, 20 years down the road that the majority of those lands … could be sold to the highest bidder,” Worland resident Eric Decker told the committee.
Sen. Barry Crago (R-Buffalo) also inquired about where federal mineral rights would go, if they are underneath private land.
“I could see us opening a can of worms,” said Crago, who was ultimately the only committee lawmaker to vote against the resolution.
The resolution is now waiting for a vote in the state Senate. Similarly, state lawmakers in Utah are introducing a resolution to allow it to co-manage the five big national parks within its borders.
Even if these resolutions pass, Congress could still choose to ignore them.
In Wyoming, this is just one of many attempts to increase state sovereignty. Another bill could bar Wyoming from selling land or mineral rights to the federal government (HB 118) if it resulted in a net increase in federal land in the state. Another would create a new legislative committee to protect against federal infringements (HB117).
Lawmakers are also considering joining 19 other states, including Utah and Arizona, to call for a constitutional convention to limit federal powers.
Legislation that would have created a fund for Wyoming to sue the federal government over land disputes (SF 41) failed to pass out of committee, along with one that would have given the state control of its national guard (SF 45).
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
