County Doesn’t Want State Takeover of Federal Lands

County doesn’t want state takeover of federal lands (from Telluride Daily Planet)Local economy depends on federal lands, county leaders sayBy Stephen Elliott

Telluride Daily Planet Staff Reporter

Published: Friday, March 27, 2015 6:05 AM CDT

The neighboring state of Utah has for years made efforts to claim federal public lands within its boundaries for itself. Now San Miguel County, Colorado leaders are taking a public stand opposing the transfer of federal lands to states.At their Wednesday meeting, the San Miguel County Board of Commissioners unanimously passed a resolution brought forth by Commissioner Joan May, “publicly stating the value of public lands to the county’s economy, recreation heritage and quality of life; and opposing any effort to claim, take over, litigate for or sell off federal public lands within San Miguel County.”The commissioners are sending that resolution to the county’s state and federal legislative representatives in an attempt to convince national and state leaders that federal lands are too important — and expensive — for states to manage.May presented the resolution after returning from Washington, D.C. last week, where she was meeting with other members of Outdoor Alliance, a national public lands advocacy group. Christy Goldfuss, the managing director of the White House Council on Environmental Quality and a key environmental adviser to President Barack Obama, spoke to May’s group and addressed questions about state takeover of federal lands, which encouraged May to present the resolution to the board.“Federal lands have to be managed for all Americans and all our needs, whether it be resources of timber or grazing or recreation or quiet spaces or water,” May said after the county meeting. “The federal government is better suited to manage for all those demands and the states are too narrowly focused on their own needs.”But the bottom line is that states simply don’t have the financial resources to manage the vast tracts of federal public lands, May added.“Federal money and expertise to suppress wildfires is essential to protecting our communities, infrastructure and public lands,” reads one point of the resolution. “Collaborative approaches in which public land management agencies cooperate with the Colorado Department of Parks and Wildlife, San Miguel County officials and our community are more likely to produce effective management than would ownership or management of public lands by the state of Colorado.”The resolution and May both emphasized the importance of public lands to the county’s economy. The crowds of tourists who come here to spend money come mostly for the public lands, they said, and many county residents are employed by federal public land management agencies.“Public lands are so important to our economy and quality of life here so I thought it was an important statement to make,” May said.Public land under the management of the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management accounts for more than 60 percent of the land in the county, according to the resolution.“Wildlife and the scenic landscape on public lands attract outdoor recreation and tourism that are the dominant drivers of San Miguel County’s economy,” the resolution reads. “Business owners attract employees in large part because of the iconic landscape and recreational opportunities on federal public lands.”The resolution also references ranchers and sheepherders in the county who depend on the large tracts of federal public land for grazing.May added that a serious attempt to transfer federal public lands to the states was unlikely, but if it were to happen, the county would be even more vocal in opposition.