** Public lands with a mission: states debate how trust lands should fund schools
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Friday, April 16, 2021
Many Colorado State Trust Lands are accessible to the public through the Public Access Program, Colorado Parks and Wildlife ([link removed])
State trust lands aren't talked about much, but these lands with a mandate to generate revenue take up a large amount of the Western United States. As the world modernizes, states are debating future land use on these lands ([link removed]) , including options like outdoor recreation or real estate development near surging tourist towns. If managed correctly, trust lands present opportunities for both economic development and conservation.
What exactly are state trust lands? Upon being granted statehood, Congress granted each Western state ownership of a portion of the lands within its borders in the form of a patchwork of evenly spaced parcels of land. Now known as state trust lands, these tracts were designated to financially support public institutions, particularly schools.
Given their economic support mission, state trust lands are not “public lands” in the traditional sense, and public access is generally restricted, unless states have established access programs such as in Colorado ([link removed]) . Rather, states manage their trust lands to generate revenue, leasing parcels for grazing, agriculture, logging, as well as drilling and mining.
In some states, extractive industries like logging are no longer paying the bills ([link removed]) , while calls for conservation ramp up with booming outdoor recreation economies. Even in states like New Mexico, where there is a strong oil and gas industry, there is recognition that extraction opportunities are finite, whereas trust land mandates are permanent. As a result, New Mexico managers have halted the sale of trust land water rights for fracking operations and created an outdoor recreation office ([link removed]) to capitalize on a growing recreation economy.
State land managers have a fine needle to thread ([link removed]) : they need to provide stable funding for schools and public services while protecting the environment and supporting local communities. One thing that's clear is that times are changing, and that it may be time for conservation and outdoor recreation to enter the mix of state trust land uses.
Quick hits
** Interior delays consideration of opening public Alaska lands to development by two years
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The Hill ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed])
** Haaland to chair newly reconstituted White House Council on Native American Affairs
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E&E News ([link removed])
** Battle for the soul of Montana: Is a copper mine worth the risk to one of the last pristine waterways?
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Rolling Stone ([link removed])
** Tribal nations adapt to being at ground zero of the climate crisis
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Indian Country Today ([link removed])
** Trump's border wall scarred sacred lands, displaced wildlife and drained water. Can it be taken down?
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Arizona Republic ([link removed])
** Can sprawl be tamed to protect wildlife and ag lands?
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Mountain Journal ([link removed])
** Yellowstone National Park sees progress and setbacks in effort to protect native cutthroat trout
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Post Register ([link removed])
** Opinion: Imagine a future of wide open spaces with 30x30
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Nevada Independent ([link removed])
Quote of the day
Permafrost is melting, villages are sinking in the tundra. A couple of years ago, because of the extreme heat, there were dead salmon floating down on the river... The wildlife — everything — is being impacted [by climate change]. We’re at ground zero.”
—Mike Williams Sr., Yup’ik, chief of the Akiak Native Community in Alaska, Indian Country Today ([link removed])
Picture this
** @U ([link removed]) SFWSBirds ([link removed])
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Among twenty snowy mountains,
The only moving thing
Was the eye of the blackbird.
--Wallace Stevens #poetrymonth ([link removed])
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