Be Very Afraid

I’ve never been concerned about the chatter for transferring federal lands to the state because I always presumed those people don’t know what they are asking for. Other than being frustrated about the modern quagmire of legal challenges and budget constraints preventing everything everyone wants to do or wants done on federal public lands, I’ve never seen a specific example of what the state could do better.

But recently during a road trip through the Midwest, I woke up one morning very afraid the proponents for transferring federal land to the states can probably make a compelling case to the majority of people in this country.

Understandably, it is difficult for urban people to appreciate the freedom of open space. But even people of rural America seldom have access to public land for outdoor recreation. They can go to a city park, or a state park (which is often just a larger version of a city park). But otherwise, even the pastoral setting of farmland and tree farms most often includes fences or unfriendly signs. As a farm boy, I roamed around as much as I wanted, but that was before most people started posting their lands.

 So when someone comes along with a sales pitch claiming federal land is not being managed to its full economic capability, or much of it is “locked up” for only people who want to walk, it will be an easy sell to people who are oblivious to the personal value of federal open space. Those who lack appreciation or understanding of wildland values can be swayed that state control would be better, even it they don’t know better than what.

 Many of us want to leave a legacy of our public lands to our seventh generation and protect that which is integral to so many of our lifestyles. We need to figure out a way to make people in other states (and our own congressmen) as ardent about Montanans’ constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment on our federal lands as some people are about protecting their second amendment rights.