On Monday, the Montezuma County Board of Commissioners will be talking about a recent push to transfer federal lands to state or local control. The three commissioners are very likely to formally support that effort, despite several compelling reasons they should not.
The best reason is that all the citizens of Montezuma County, from one end of the political spectrum to the other, are equal owners of the federal lands in question. While the commissioners ally themselves with groups that intensely dislike nearly everything the federal government has done lately, that position is not universally held even in Montezuma County. The commission has thousands of constituents who firmly oppose any transfer of property from federal management.
Any claim that Montezuma County would be better off without federal “interference” is entirely speculative. The county’s economy benefits greatly from visitation to Mesa Verde National Park, recreation on the San Juan National Forest, hiking and biking (and, not incidentally, grazing and mineral extraction) on Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, and the multiple uses of Bureau of Land Management Lands, not to mention the huge federal investment in local water projects.
That’s far beyond the scope of county government, and it’s pretty safe to say that the state’s attention probably always will focus elsewhere. The commission needs to be brutally realistic about the accomplishing any of that on a smaller scale. There’s a great deal more to good land management than simply getting rid of “restrictions.”
The commissioners also should think carefully about who would benefit most from a move to loosen restrictions on land use. Make no mistake: That’s the goal of these efforts. A look at the list of donors supporting these measures suggests that some big players believe they’d profit in big ways, and Montezuma County, even with its CO2, is not a big-enough player to join that league.
Montezuma County residents on both sides of the issue should take a moment to tally up the positive aspects of the current arrangement, because federal lands benefit their own neighbors most of all. While people in states east of here are lucky to spend a week or two each year vacationing in a place like this, locals live next door to several vast playgrounds, and they utilize that access. Proponents of the land transfer say that won’t change. They aren’t telling the truth.
This week, Gov. John Hickenlooper signed a bill that gives local governments assistance from the state in coordinating with federal land agencies. More coordination is what county commissioners repeatedly have said they wanted, although what they’ve really meant is that they should have much greater power, if not the last word, over land-use decisions within their boundaries, even when the land itself is in federal ownership.
Let’s see what the state can leverage. That’s definitely worth a try, before selling the farm.
Montezuma County is not likely to follow La Plata County’s lead in affirming the value of public lands to the county’s “economy, recreation, heritage and quality of life.” Although that value definitely exists, there’s simply too much antipathy here toward federal agencies, which have their flaws, including underfunding, and which also serve as convenient scapegoats.
But the commission should not pass a resolution giving the impression that all its constituents want federal land agencies to fold their tents and go home. That is absolutely not true. Many of us are happy with our inheritance.
Don’t do it.