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Wyoming lawmakers want to take over large swaths of federal land

A sign says Grand Teton National Park with mountains in the background.
Wehardy
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Flickr Creative Commons
Grand Teton National Park is just one piece of federal land that Wyoming lawmakers want to see go to the state.

The U.S. Supreme Court recently rejected Utah’s lawsuit to claim public lands within its borders, but some Western states are already exploring other ways to gain control.

In Wyoming, state lawmakers are calling on Congress to give over 30 million acres, about half of the land in the state, and even more mineral rights.

Senate Joint Resolution 2 says the feds can keep Yellowstone National Park, but Grand Teton National Park and Devils Tower National Monument are still on the table, in addition to wide swaths of national forest and Bureau of Land Management land.

Last week, State Sen. Tim French (R-Powell) told concerned Wyomingites that the state could “easily handle” all those acres.

“I’d much rather yourself, everybody in here, everybody across the room have a real say in what’s going on instead of the feds doing it, because I’ve witnessed what they have done,” French said at a Senate Agriculture, State and Public Lands & Water Resources Committee meeting on Jan. 30.

French is a member of a revived movement arguing the feds are mismanaging land within state borders and that their control violates part of the constitution.

“It’s about can [Congress] indefinitely retain these lands [that] by the letter of the supreme law of the land, they’re mandated to dispose?” explained Sen. Bob Ide (R-Casper), who’s sponsoring the resolution.

It claims Wyoming is entitled to “exercise sovereignty and jurisdiction over all of the territory” outlined in its act of admission under the equal footing doctrine in the constitution, arguing Wyoming should have the same political rights and territorial sovereignty as the original states.

Utah has made a similar argument, supported in court by Wyoming, Idaho, the Arizona Legislature and a handful of counties in New Mexico.

But many say this logic isn’t legally sound. According to Alec Underwood, with the Wyoming Outdoor Council, there’s “over 100 years of case laws showing that this is legally impossible.”

Underwood also questioned how Wyoming would manage the huge influx of land, roads and trail networks, not to mention taking over the costs and management of wildfires. Others wondered whether the land would stay publicly accessible.

“There’s no guarantee that at some point, five years, 10 years, 20 years down the road that the majority of those lands … could be sold to the highest bidder,” Worland resident Eric Decker told the committee.

Sen. Barry Crago (R-Buffalo) also inquired about where federal mineral rights would go, if they are underneath private land.

“I could see us opening a can of worms,” said Crago, who was ultimately the only committee lawmaker to vote against the resolution.

The resolution is now waiting for a vote in the state Senate. Similarly, state lawmakers in Utah are introducing a resolution to allow it to co-manage the five big national parks within its borders.

Even if these resolutions pass, Congress could still choose to ignore them.

In Wyoming, this is just one of many attempts to increase state sovereignty. Another bill could bar Wyoming from selling land or mineral rights to the federal government (HB 118) if it resulted in a net increase in federal land in the state. Another would create a new legislative committee to protect against federal infringements (HB117).

Lawmakers are also considering joining 19 other states, including Utah and Arizona, to call for a constitutional convention to limit federal powers.

Legislation that would have created a fund for Wyoming to sue the federal government over land disputes (SF 41) failed to pass out of committee, along with one that would have given the state control of its national guard (SF 45). 

This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

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Hanna is the Mountain West News Bureau reporter based in Teton County.