Conservation Groups Hail Legal Report Panning Land Transfers
Suzanne Potter, Producer
Monday, October 3, 2016
CARSON CITY, Nev. - Lawsuits to force the federal government to turn over land to states have little chance of succeeding, according to new findings from the Conference of Western Attorneys General.
Two years ago, the group formed a subcommittee to study whether the federal government was legally obligated to sell or transfer the public lands within a state, to that state. Attorneys general from all the Western states except California found the legal claims to be weak.
Anne Macquarie, on the executive committee of the Sierra Club's Toiyabe Chapter in Nevada, said the report undercuts the arguments of the land-seizure movement, which has gained some traction in Nevada in recent years.
"Utah's lawsuit has already cost that state millions," said Macquarie. "I'm pleased that Nevada AG's staff took part in this analysis, and that there were no dissenting opinions; and that Western AGs voted 11 to one to approve the report."
She noted that Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt has never promised a lawsuit similar to the one in Utah, but he has said he wants to keep a close watch on how the federal government manages land. And Laxalt did join a multi-state lawsuit challenging the federal management program for the greater sage grouse.
Last year, the Nevada Legislature passed a joint resolution calling on the state to seek a transfer of land from the federal government. Macquarie described politicians who take this approach as out of touch with voters.
"We don't believe that's the will of the people of Nevada," she said. "And there are polls that show that the majority of Nevadans want public land to remain being managed by federal land-management agencies."
In Nevada, 81 percent of the land is managed by federal agencies, which also makes those agencies major employers in the state.
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