How governors are pushing back on Republicans public lands proposals
Amid a Republican-led push to sell millions of acres of public lands to alleviate the housing affordability crisis, some governors in the Mountain West are pushing back.
U.S. Sen. Mike Lee of Utah has proposed selling land mainly in Western states for housing. It’s unclear what will happen to the provision. Late Monday, the Senate Parliamentarian said the public lands sale proposal does not meet the requirements to belong in the budget reconciliation process. It’s one of seven sections of the package from the Energy and Natural Resources Committee to receive this advice so far.
Despite the lack of clarity, the proposal has captured the attention of several governors at the Western Governors Association’s annual conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico. That state’s governor, Michelle Lujan-Grisham, said states should be part of any conversation to sell off lands.
“The process that has been described so far is a problem for a state like New Mexico,” she told fellow governors and attendees. “We have a very strong relationship with the openness (of our lands) and they (public lands) belong to all of us. Selling that to the private sector without a process, without putting New Mexicans first, is at least for me as a governor, problematic.”
She went on to say the states should have the opportunity to craft policies that are “state centric” and work collaboratively with the federal government.
Gov. Jared Polis of Colorado said public lands are a big part of the quality of life in his state and that it would be a blow if they were privatized. He is concerned public lands could be lost altogether.
“I mean, look, our public lands in Colorado are where we hunt and fish and hike,” Polis said. “It's a big part of the quality of life in Colorado, and also a huge driver of our outdoor recreation economy.”
Polis added: “Of course, we look forward to additional opportunities to partner with the federal government, and I hope that they include states in that partnership to find areas of federal land that could be appropriate for housing or other uses, but Coloradans really treasure our access, and it would be a devastating blow to the quality of life as well to our economy if areas were fenced off and the public was denied access.”
U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who supports using federal lands for housing, spoke during the conference’s opening session on Monday.
“We (the federal government) want to make sure we're a partner and not an oppressor when we're working with the western states,” Burgum said. “This nation was built around states creating the federal government, not the other way around. There are certain limited responsibilities that belong with the feds, and there's a lot of great things that governors can do, if we can just give you the tools to do it and get out of your way.”
Burgum reminded listeners he was once the governor of North Dakota and said he understands a balance is necessary between the federal government and the states when undertaking policy or regulatory changes.
His attendance did not go unnoticed. Hundreds of protesters marched through the city at the steps of the conference center chanting their opposition to and concerns about proposals for sale of public lands.
