The “cattle battle” between Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and the Bureau of Land Management may be over – for now. But it appears that the battle between Western states and the federal government over who should own the land in those states is just beginning.
As reported by The Salt Lake Tribune, more than 50 political leaders from nine states met for the first time on Friday to talk about their joint goal: wresting control of oil-, timber -and mineral-rich lands away from the feds.
“It’s simply time,” said Rep. Ken Ivory, R-West Jordan, who organized the Legislative Summit on the Transfer for Public Lands along with Montana state Sen. Jennifer Fielder. “The urgency is now.”
The “Legislative Summit on the Transfer for Public Lands” – which was attended by lawmakers from Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Montana, Oregon, Utah and Washington – was already scheduled before the tense standoff between Bundy and the BLM over cattle grazing on federal land gained national attention.
Utah House Speaker Becky Lockhart summed it up:
“What’s happened in Nevada is really just a symptom of a much larger problem.”
http://www.ijreview.com/2014/04/131148-western-states-gather-urgency-now-take-control-federal-land/
As reported by The Salt Lake Tribune, more than 50 political leaders from nine states met for the first time on Friday to talk about their joint goal: wresting control of oil-, timber -and mineral-rich lands away from the feds.
“It’s simply time,” said Rep. Ken Ivory, R-West Jordan, who organized the Legislative Summit on the Transfer for Public Lands along with Montana state Sen. Jennifer Fielder. “The urgency is now.”
The “Legislative Summit on the Transfer for Public Lands” – which was attended by lawmakers from Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Montana, Oregon, Utah and Washington – was already scheduled before the tense standoff between Bundy and the BLM over cattle grazing on federal land gained national attention.
Utah House Speaker Becky Lockhart summed it up:
“What’s happened in Nevada is really just a symptom of a much larger problem.”
http://www.ijreview.com/2014/04/131148-western-states-gather-urgency-now-take-control-federal-land/