The Dec. 11 Journal had a story titled “Fact check.” The fact checker needs to check the facts! The “facts” commented that Ben Carson missed the boat on federal lands.
The data referenced the amount of federal lands in the United States as being incorrect. If Carson stated what was reported, then it was indeed incorrect.
Unfortunately, the story did not stop with that, but went on to become un-factual.
The property clause referenced is all about authorizing the federal government to secure new territory for the purpose of creating new states. Article I, Section 8 precedes the territorial property clause and specifically defines what property the federal government may own within any state, which is very limited, and the procedures that must be followed for that ownership.
The comment that the so-called federal lands are not and never were state lands is glaringly false. When the state was created out of territory being held for that purpose, Congress established the boundaries in the Enabling Act stating, “the said state of Colorado shall consist of all the territory included within the following boundaries,” then described the exterior boundaries of the state. All the land within the boundaries is the state of Colorado.
Those lands were no longer territory, but lands of the new state. Article I, Section 8 then became the controlling point for federal land ownership in the state.
In 1828, the Supreme Court declared that the federal government could not indefinitely exercise control over western lands. In 1894 the Supreme Court confirmed that the new states created from territories were to be on equal footing with the original 13 states.
In 2009, regarding Hawaii’s statehood, the Supreme Court declared that “Congress had no right to change the promises it made to a state’s Enabling Act,” referencing the federal government retaining lands as it did to the other western states.
The FLPMA Act declaring the federal government would indefinitely retain the lands is obviously unconstitutional. The reference to the ALC is repeating allegations that were and are unfounded. Check your facts, they are not!
Dexter Gill
Lewis
