Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Why Local Land Management Matters

The states could be making more if they charged fees on all the public land within their state's boundaries and jurisdiction.

That's a fact.

There may actually BE some logging, mining, ranching, and recreation take place on it.

And the Locals would have actual representation in controlling what or what not happens on these lands.

So, you're implying that there isn't any logging, mining, oil and gas development, or recreation taking place on federal lands?

Bigger joke.

Yeah, the BLM land in the Jonah field is locked up:

The locals already have representation on what happens on Federal lands...as do you.

Looks like a prime example of the mismanagement we are seeing throughout public lands under the control of the Interior Dept.

What kind of idiot lets that happen to land they are in charge of?

Maybe one that had his hand under the table?

Is that the corruption mentioned here?

I thought you said there was no "multiple use" going on with Federal Lands? No logging, no mining, no other resource extraction?

Is it fun chasing your own tail?

Want some examples of what happens to State lands?

Are state lands mandated with multiple use?

P.S. You must get some pretty long coffee breaks there in the ranger station.

Depends on the type of State land and what state agency administers same.

That is, whats left of what the Feds gave them as Statehood. Wyoming has sold a good portion of their State lands already.

No we don't...Because The area field manager doesn't have to worry about the next "local election" he just dictates without accountability, no skin off of his nose. He makes up laws and regulations on the fly whether they are real laws or not and you are stuck with his unquestioned decision even if you prove different in written code. You cannot go over his head and there is no affective appeal process, he is GOD and backed up by the government without question as Your Local GOD.

This is how it really works...so no we don't. You can bet there are hundreds of stories about this here. They are given far far too much authority and enjoy this power far far too much. What's worse...They feel they are "privileged" and are not even honest enough to hold themselves to the very policies they impose on everyone else.

chit people don't understand


There is necessary federal oversight, but no good federal oversight. Federal bureaucracy is killing our economy along with our freedoms. Nothing the government does is efficient, but there are a few things only the government can accomplish. There is no such as a big government that is efficient.

If they would stick to the constitution, it would be a lot more efficient.

Off to do some emergency Charity work. Please have a great day Gentlemen.

Taking land management advice from a Texan is akin to taking dietary advice from Michael Moore. I'll pass.

Why do so many Texans travel out of state to use federal lands all over the west? Bunch of communists.

I have a serious question for Buzz.

Is it true that the biggest problem the USFS faces right now is finding bumper space for the new "Feel the Bern" stickers, because y'all are too lazy to scrape off the old Obama stickers?

Thanks!!

smoker,
Maintenance backlog is thought of as to standard. But the reality is, if the road prism is stable (not a hydrological threat) then it is not really necessary to maintain to that standard.
Roads can veg up between timber sales, or get deadfall, then users need to "assume risk" by having a stouter rig and/or chainsaws and shovels.
That backlog is also really deceptive in gross numbers because those are not HIGHWAY miles, they are mostly slope-cut dirt roads that at most require a visual culvert check where applicable.
And that "three miles" from a road might mean two additional miles straight up and down.
Keep pretending.

I regret that I am late to the game on this one, but here are a couple of points.

First, as Federal Land, the American people own it and have access to it. I own my share of it. If that land is transferred to state ownership, I lose that. Now a state where I have no vote will decide whether I can use the land that was mine. I don't trust any state to continue to allow me to access said land (their track records indicate I would lose access)...and that is IF they keep it as state land. For those in favor of state ownership, tell me which states you completely trust for your lifetime to not restrict your use of these lands?

Secondly, for those in favor of ownership transfer, tell me which states you completely trust to not sell them off to mining, ranching, timber, etc companies that would also restrict access?

Smokepole, Buzz, Aces, Alpine, thanks for speaking up against this ludicrous idea. It is obvious that those for ownership transfer don't think about what would happen after the transfer other than locals would make the decision. And I agree with an earlier statement; anybody who thinks state or local officials are immune to corruption is naive. Frankly, as an owner of this land, I don't want locals making all the decisions. To them, anything Federal is bad and must be stopped. I certainly am not a fan of the Federal government, but in some circumstances, it is needed.

PILT?
In 2015, Flathead County got 2 million in Pilt money, with about that amount of federal land. THat's a buck an acre in supposed "property tax." A complete joke. PILT is a gnat upon a supernova's butt.

Truth.

PILT is a small portion of what property taxes would be.

Sadly, with the majority of the county or state in public lands, they are dependent on it to supply even the most basic of services like fire fighters and law enforcement.

Back to the original topic, Owyhee.
There might be three thousand people living there. It's pretty darn sparse.
One town outnumbers them all. One environmental group with the money to hire Laird Lucas outsues them all. It's a concentrated version of mob overrule.
Here we are in America and the people in eastern Oregon or any other target area don't have any say in their future. That's the part that kills me, that is not what a representative republic is supposed to be.
For that reason, I support trashing the Antiquities Act as a start, and maybe even actively reforming the Wilderness Act. The Wilderness Act was supposed to be a one and done, find the wildernesses, get them designated, and move on. Instead, it is a political perpetual motion machine, where now Congress critters see fit to close old roads to mines in order to "unroad" areas and designate them Wilderness.
It's amazing legalistic kabuki that warps the intent of the original law, but that's because radical Greens will never be satisfied (and stay employed) until the last possible acre has been locked away.

Lol. Now we see who the real tax and spend communists are. Add the cost of federal wild land fire suppression to the PILT payments and tell me Flathead county is prepared for a 20 million dollar a year cost increase.
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Flathead County is receiving the highest share of compensation in the state for its large swath of nontaxable federal land.

The U.S. Department of Interior announced last week that Montana counties are receiving $28.8 million under the 2014 Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program, including $2.41 million for Flathead County. The local allocation is roughly $250,000 more than last year, and the total amount distributed to the state is the largest amount ever allocated since the program was established in 1976 to provide funds to local governments to offset losses in property taxes due to nontaxable federal lands within the governments’ jurisdictions.

Flathead has 2.44 million acres of federal land, the most in the state followed by Beaverhead County, with 2.05 million acres.


Lincoln County is receiving $628,135 in PILT funding, nearly $40,000 more than last year. Glacier County is receiving $1 million, nearly $70,000 more than a year ago. Lake County gets $417,349, nearly $35,000 more than a year ago and Sanders receives $329,947, almost $26,000 more than 2013.

Montana received the sixth highest amount in the U.S. California received the most of any state, $45.29 million.

The state received $26.49 million last year.

The PILT program was reauthorized for another year through the latest Farm Bill.

“Rural communities in Montana use PILT to improve their schools, build better roads, and pay for essential services,” Sen. Jon Tester said. “These payments are an investment in Montana’s students and our rural way of life, and I will continue supporting PILT and make sure payments quickly get to the ground where they’re needed.”

Only 15 years ago, Flathead County received $823,140 in PILT funding. In 2004, the county received $1.28 million.

PILT funds are added to the county’s general funding, and the commissioners have slated $500,000 to go toward road maintenance and other operations within the Road and Bridge Department.

The county’s strategy in recent years has been to use PILT funds to help tackle large capital projects, such as the $2.6 million renovation of the courthouse in 2010-2011.

A portion of the latest PILT funds will go toward the old jail building renovation behind the courthouse, which could break ground next spring, according to county officials.

Another chunk will help pay for the construction of a new south campus building that could house the Agency on Aging, the county’s maintenance department and other health department services, such as a dental clinic, according to county administrator Mike Pence. The new two-story building is estimated to cost $6 million and would resemble the adjacent Earl Bennett Building on First Avenue West. The county is in the process of acquiring the final property needed to make room for the development, Pence said, and the entire project could break ground and be completed within a couple years.

The Interior Department collects roughly $14 billion in revenue annually from commercial activities on the nation’s federal lands, such as oil and gas leasing, livestock grazing and timber harvesting.

The formula used to compute the payments is based on population, receipt sharing payments, and the amount of federal land within an affected county, according to the Interior Department.

The Obama administration’s latest fiscal year 2015 budget proposes to extend mandatory full funding for the program for another year while a sustainable long-term funding solution is developed for the PILT program.