[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 129 (Wednesday, September 18, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10839-S10840]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. THOMAS:
  S. 2089. A bill to transfer land administered by the Bureau of Land 
Management to the States in which the land is located; to the Committee 
on Energy and Natural Resources.


                 Bureau of Land Management Legislation

 Mr. THOMAS. Mr. President, today, I introduce legislation that 
would transfer the lands controlled by the Bureau of Land Management 
[BLM] to the States. This bill is similar to legislation I introduced 
in the Senate last year, but has a number of very important changes 
designed to improve the measure and ensure these public lands remain in 
public hands. In addition, the measure also protects access to these 
lands after they are transferred

[[Page S10840]]

to ensure that multiple use activities will continue on them when they 
become State property.
  After I introduced S. 1031 last year, some folks misleadingly claimed 
my legislation would allow the States to selloff the lands that were 
transferred to them and give them to the highest bidder. False claims 
were also made that access to these lands for hunting, fishing, and 
recreation would be limited. These attacks may have played well with 
the environmental community, unfortunately they have nothing to do with 
the truth about this effort.
  Currently, the BLM controls nearly 270 million acres of land in the 
United States. The agency administers over 18 million acres of land in 
Wyoming and much more in other Western States. This landownership 
pattern puts a heavy burden on the people of Wyoming and throughout the 
West and affects our economy and communities across the West. The bill 
I am introducing today would ensure that these lands remain public--
only administered by the States rather than the Federal Government. It 
is also important to note that this bill only deals with lands 
administered by the BLM. This legislation would do nothing to alter the 
management of our national parks, national forests, or wilderness 
areas.
  Let me be clear, I believe strongly that the State governments can do 
a much better job of managing the BLM lands in their States. 
Transferring these lands to the States is a common-sense approach to 
bring public management of these areas closer to local people. However, 
I also feel strongly that these lands should remain public and 
available to folks for a variety of uses. The key is to allow local 
people to make decisions regarding management of these public resources 
rather than bureaucrats in Washington, DC.
  The principle behind my efforts to transfer the BLM lands is to give 
local people the opportunity to have real input into how these areas 
are managed. It has never been the intent of any supporters of this 
legislation to privatize or restrict access to these public lands. 
Although the opponents of this bill use every scare tactic imaginable, 
the real issue regarding my legislation is whether you believe land 
management decisions can be made better by folks in Washington or 
Cheyenne? This is not a question about making public lands private, 
this is a question about fairness and who can do a better job of 
listening to the concerns of local people.
  I trust the people of Wyoming and the other States to make the proper 
decisions for themselves. Hopefully, the legislation I introduce today 
will allow us to begin focusing on the real questions in this matter, 
rather than the attacks and half-truths used by the opponents of my 
bill.
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