Thumping Public Land Transfer Myths with TRCP

America’s 640 million acres of national public lands—including our national forests and Bureau of Land Management lands—provide hunting and fishing opportunities to millions of Americans. They represent the uniquely American values of freedom and adventure that are the envy of the world.

And while no sportsman would say that federal management of our lands is perfect, the idea that individual states will do a better job at running them is fundamentally flawed. In fact, proponents of the public land transfer movement have drawn up some pretty fantastical scenarios about how much better off we’d be with land in state hands.

States are simply not equipped to shoulder the enormous costs associated with fighting wildfires, maintaining roads and trails, treating noxious weeds, and conducting habitat restoration on millions of acres of public lands, which currently belong to you and me.

As public lands hunter and outdoor television host Randy Newberg explains, the transfer of national lands to the states would result in one likely outcome: the fire sale of these lands to the highest bidders, like billionaires and foreign corporations who may neither understand nor value America’s outdoor heritage. Once privatized, these lands will become off-limits to most sportsmen—for good.