BuzzH
Well-known member
Looks like the Sweetwater County Commissioners have sided with Sportsmen in Wyoming over the transfer of public lands.
Good to see and maybe some emails, calls are in order to thank them.
The Sweetwater County Commission has joined sportsmen's groups in opposing state management or ownership of federal lands.
Meanwhile, on Thursday lawmakers received a handout from the Wyoming Sportsmen Alliance, which represents nine outdoors organizations, urging them to vote against two federal land bills in the Legislature.
The alliance represents about 50,000 hunters and anglers across the state, said Steve Kilpatrick, executive director of the Wyoming Wildlife Federation, a group member.
But lawmakers who support state management or ownership of federal lands are unmoved. They believe Wyoming has a legal right to the land because the federal government has turned over acreage to other states.
They say state officials would be more responsive and flexible to people’s concerns than the federal bureaucracy.
Sweetwater commissioners sent the Jan. 29 letter to lawmakers representing the county in Cheyenne.
The commissioners outlined a position that the state cannot afford to manage the lands. It noted that the Bureau of Land Management spends $106 million a year and has 668 full-time employees to manage 18 million surface acres and 40 million subsurface acres of minerals.
“Sweetwater County believes that, due to the unaffordable costs of administering acquired federal lands, the state will be forced to sell portions of these lands to private entities,” the letter states.
“Under private ownership, it would be highly likely that these lands would preclude public access to prime wildlife habitat and public lands that form the foundation of the quality of life we all enjoy in Wyoming.”
Full article here:
http://trib.com/news/state-and-regi...5d-a69f-1b1ed383b4a2.html#.VNY7xAcjXy4.mailto
Good to see and maybe some emails, calls are in order to thank them.
The Sweetwater County Commission has joined sportsmen's groups in opposing state management or ownership of federal lands.
Meanwhile, on Thursday lawmakers received a handout from the Wyoming Sportsmen Alliance, which represents nine outdoors organizations, urging them to vote against two federal land bills in the Legislature.
The alliance represents about 50,000 hunters and anglers across the state, said Steve Kilpatrick, executive director of the Wyoming Wildlife Federation, a group member.
But lawmakers who support state management or ownership of federal lands are unmoved. They believe Wyoming has a legal right to the land because the federal government has turned over acreage to other states.
They say state officials would be more responsive and flexible to people’s concerns than the federal bureaucracy.
Sweetwater commissioners sent the Jan. 29 letter to lawmakers representing the county in Cheyenne.
The commissioners outlined a position that the state cannot afford to manage the lands. It noted that the Bureau of Land Management spends $106 million a year and has 668 full-time employees to manage 18 million surface acres and 40 million subsurface acres of minerals.
“Sweetwater County believes that, due to the unaffordable costs of administering acquired federal lands, the state will be forced to sell portions of these lands to private entities,” the letter states.
“Under private ownership, it would be highly likely that these lands would preclude public access to prime wildlife habitat and public lands that form the foundation of the quality of life we all enjoy in Wyoming.”
Full article here:
http://trib.com/news/state-and-regi...5d-a69f-1b1ed383b4a2.html#.VNY7xAcjXy4.mailto
