Land commissioners oppose wholesale BLM land sales; urge restraint in forest road development

The Western States Land Commissioners Association has adopted resolutions urging its members to oppose the wholesale land sales by the Bureau of Land Management and to support a fiscally and environmentally sound road-building program in the national forests. The resolutions were adopted at the "Building Partnerships" conference, WSLCA's annual joint meeting with the Eastern Lands and Resources Council in Washington, D.C. The conference was highlighted by appearances by Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, Assistant Secretary Bob Armstrong, BLM Director Pat Shea, Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck, and U.S. Senator Dale Bumpers of Arkansas.

The meeting was the first that included a joint session of the WSLCA, the ELRC and the Bureau of Land Management's Executive Leadership Team, which includes all of the agency's state directors and senior staff. A major focus of the agenda was land exchanges and other successful cooperative projects between the state and federal land agencies.

"We have developed a productive and respectful relationship with these federal agencies. They are extremely important to our success as state trust land managers," said Ray Powell, New Mexico's Commissioner of Public Lands and president of the WSLCA.

"The state and federal agencies are uniquely positioned to maximize conservation, resource use and overall benefits to the public by working together," Powell said. "This meeting was a continuation of our effort to achieve common understanding about public land management in the West."

Two resolutions were adopted at the closing sessions of the conference. Both relate to ongoing issues being addressed by Congress and the Clinton administration land agencies. The BLM land sales resolution resulted from a Senate Budget Resolution provision that would require the BLM to sell up to six million acres of land -- an area the size of New Hampshire -- to subsidize private landowners for endangered species habitat conservation. According to the resolution, the proposal would interfere with an ongoing initiative between the WSLCA and the BLM to develop a strategic, national, land exchange priority list and to dedicate efforts and resources toward accomplishing those exchanges.

"State-federal land exchanges offer the best possible opportunity to rationalize land ownership and management in the West," said Powell. The resolution highlights several concerns with the proposal, including the sale of capital assets to finance ongoing operations or deficit reduction.

"It is unwise public policy and unwise business practice to sell capital assets in a time of record prosperity," Powell said."Why would we ever consider selling off our remaining natural wild lands? We shouldn't even consider selling them in the worst of times. Now is the time to invest and re-invest in the health of America's public lands. We should be striving to leave a more valuable legacy to our grandchildren and their grandchildren."

Secretary Babbitt also expressed opposition to the proposal, questioning its economics and land management effects. He said a comprehensive process of state-federal land exchanges holds great promise for allowing the federal government to achieve its conservation, recreation and resource objectives, and at the same time allowing the state trust agencies to realize their mandates to generate revenues for public education.

The second resolution urges WSLCA land agencies to support a U.S. Forest Service policy and budget for road maintenance. This policy will help meet the Forest Service's economic objectives, minimize ecological impact, and maintain access to state trust land inholdings. This will also ensure that the agencies' financial resources are used effectively.

The conference concluded with a meeting of the state-federal task force on land exchanges, which is developing the national priority list for land exchanges, and working to streamline the process for land exchanges between state trust and federal land agencies. That task force, created through the work of South Dakota Commissioner Curt Johnson and Washington Commissioner Jennifer Belcher, has established a framework for pursuing land exchanges with Interior Department agencies.

The members of the WSLCA administer an estimated 146 million acres of surface land and more than 220 million acres of minerals and 81 million acres of submerged lands. The land and permanent funds, valued at more than $41 billion, distribute nearly $2 billion a year to public education and other beneficiaries in the 23-member states.