How To Make Public Lands Pay For Themselves

More advocates to the transfer movement are many rural counties. It's not so much that they see how much money goes out of the federal budget to handle the land. But these rural counties see how much of their county is BLM or USFS instead of private, and they do not generate property tax on it to make money come in. Yet every county has pretty much the same baseline of services they need to provide like infrastructure, sheriff office, emergency services, you name it. They see those map blobs that are colored as "federal" as not paying their fair share. Then they regularly compare notes with other counties around the state and country and get the "poor me" attitude trying to keep up with the Joneses of other mostly-private and/or more urban counties. And, since no county commissioner will ever get elected on the plank of "less services," they brainstorm on ways to get more revenue. Sure, their is PILT money that the feds give these rural counties. But I've never heard a county official anywhere say that they get plenty of PILT money, it's a good system.

If you live in gas or oil country, compound that logic above by the energy development interests always wanting easier and more underground access while dangling the carrots of jobs and royalties.

I see all of their points, I just do not agree. I work with numerous counties all around the square states and regularly listen to these conversations. I choose to live in a rural county, therefore I tolerate a reduced level of county service. My home county has been in dire financial straights for a while with no sign of getting out. And it amazes me how nobody will have realistic conversations about actual local budgets versus projected local wants/needs. I don't like it, but I do like living with ready access to BLM and USFS land and don't think that land should be offered up as savings accounts in which to dip to make up for unrealistic budget planning.