1. December 2013 #13-48
Summary:
The federal government
continues to control more
than 50% of all lands in
the western United States.
Transferring federally
controlled lands back to
the state can vastly benefit
Oregon’s economy while
using wisely our wealth of
natural resources.
Word Count 624
“Locked up in these
federally controlled
lands are more than
$150 trillion in
mineral values and
more recoverable
oil―in Utah,
Colorado, and
Wyoming alone―
than in the rest of the
world combined.”
Knowledge and Courage:
What the West Needs to Take Back
Our Public Lands
By Ken Ivory
The federal government continues to control more than 50% of all lands in the
western United States. Locked up in these federally controlled lands are more than
$150 trillion in mineral values and more recoverable oil―in Utah, Colorado, and
Wyoming alone―than in the rest of the world combined. Failed federal forest
policies prevent harvesting timber, which would improve forest conditions and
wildfire resilience, provide useful consumer products and renewable energy
feedstock, and revitalize rural schools and communities. FBI criminal activity alerts
now warn that terrorists are encouraging the use of wildfire in fuel-laden federal
forests as weapons for jihad.
There is no good reason for the federal government to retain control over these
lands and resources in states like Oregon. We in the West have, in good faith,
simply tolerated the federal government’s delay in honoring its more than 200-yearold obligation to transfer title to these lands for so long that now most people
assume there must be some valid reason the federal government controls our lands
and resources.
But there is none. At a recent Continuing Legal Education seminar to several dozen
lawyers, a law professor (who is frequently quoted as saying it is “clearly
unconstitutional” for states to take action to secure the transfer of title to their
public lands) displayed an annual average precipitation map indicating that the
federal government retains control of western lands because they are “arid.”
The second reason he gave was that the founders of the western states simply gave
up their lands as a sort of ransom for the privilege of statehood, citing half a
sentence in the statehood enabling acts: “… forever disclaim all right and title….”
The funny thing is, this same half sentence is word-for-word the same in the
statehood enabling acts of almost all states east of Colorado, where the federal
government did dispose of their public lands.
In fact, for decades, as much as 90% of the lands in Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas,
Indiana, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida were kept under federal
control. Then, one man had the knowledge and courage to rally citizens to compel
Congress to transfer title to their public lands. His name was Thomas Hart Benton,
a Democratic U.S. Senator from Missouri featured in President John F. Kennedy’s
best-selling book Profiles in Courage.

2. The statehood enabling acts promising to transfer title to the public lands are the
same for all states west and east of Colorado. It’s been done before―repeatedly and
recently. And, returning these lands to state control is the only solution big enough
to fund education; better care for our lands and forests; protect access; create jobs;
and grow local, state, and national economies and tax base.
If we fail to stand up and take action to secure state and local control of our lands
and abundant resources, it will not be because it is illegal, unconstitutional, or
impossible. It will only be because we―and the local, state, and national leaders we
“hire”―lack the knowledge and the courage to do what has been successfully done
before.
Do your local, state, and national leaders know why there is a difference between the
way the federal government has handled eastern and western lands? Have you
inquired what specifically they are doing to compel Congress to honor the same
statehood promise for our children and our future that Congress already kept with
Hawaii and all states east of Colorado? Have you asked them what groups or
influential individuals they will bring to the effort? Have you asked them what
specifically you can do to help?
“…[R]eturning
these lands to state
control is the only
solution big
enough to fund
education; better
care for our lands
and forests;
protect access;
create jobs; and
grow local, state,
and national
economies and tax
base.”
Now is the time to let our representatives know how transferring federally controlled
lands back to the state can vastly benefit Oregon’s economy while preserving and
using wisely our wealth of natural resources.
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.
Ken Ivory is president of the American Lands Council and a member of the Utah
House of Representatives. He was a guest speaker on this issue for Cascade Policy
Institute in November 2013.
Please contact:
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