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GOP Gubernatorial Candidate In Wyoming Would Open Yellowstone National Park To Grazing, Mining

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Wyoming long has had an independent streak in its right-leaning politics, but a position on federal lands staked out by a Republican gubernatorial candidate still might cause some in the state to catch their breath: Taylor Haynes would open Yellowstone National Park to mining and grazing.

Mr. Haynes, whose diverse background includes degrees in urology and mechanical engineering and time spent ranching, said if elected one of his first tasks would be to send letters to the federal land-management agencies telling them to turn their lands over to the state and get their operations out of Wyoming.

“Then, in whichever county they attempt to have any official activity, they will be arrested for impersonating a law enforcement officer in Wyoming,” he told the Casper Star-Tribune last week.

The 68-year-old Republican bases his plan on the grounds that the U.S. Constitution allows the federal government to own just 10 miles of land, in Washington, D.C., for offices and operations, and that the state could do a much better job of managing the federal lands.

How successful would Mr. Haynes' proposal be in terms of the state's tourism industry? Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks likely would fare well for their iconic status. But other park units in the state? Do you remember Shoshone Cavern National Monument? The site outside Cody, Wyoming, was designated in 1909 by presidential proclamation, and given to Cody in 1954. Have you heard of it?

Before Mr. Haynes can put his plan to work, he has to win the GOP gubernatorial nomination next month (current Gov. Matt Mead, a Republican, is seeking re-election), and then the general election in November.

 

Comments

ec I always enjoy your well thought out debate. Your posts always give reasoned thought from your vision. My vision would not let me vote for this guy if I were voting in this election. So even if I agreed with some of his positions, I would hope that there is a better candidate available. Thus, I would not be defending him.  Same thing happens in the liberal party.


David,

Thans for your kind words.  I don't know that I would vote for him either, at least in the primaries, but i don't see anything about Yellowstone that would make me vote against him. 

Of course, I don't live in WY so I couldnt vote for or against him anyway. 


I would think that if his position on Yellowstone and other federal areas were not as stated in the press...he would restate his position. I do not live in Wyoming either.


Conservatives would spend all their life "restating" their position if they had to respond every time they were mischaracterized. 


Conservatives would spend all their life "restating" their position if they had to respond every time they were mischaracterized.

I think it's safe to say that applies to anyone involved in politics, right, left, down the middle. 


Probably so Kurt.  Point is that just because he has not publicly refuted the article doesn't make it true.

BTW. I wrote his office and suggested he contact you or make his position clear through a post.  It will be interesting to see if he or his office responds. 


The problem with labels is the presumption they create in the mind of the person hearing the label. That is why, even as a historian, I don't use terms like liberal, conservative, Republican, or Democrat. All of them are moving targets. I prefer that the action speak for itself. This to remind us that what is happening in Wyoming is nothing extradordinary in the least. Ranchers, miners, and loggers have always had the attitude that the federal government stands in their way. But does it? Under the General Land Office of the Department of the Interior, finally abolished in 1935, the best of the West went to the settlers, railroaders, and all the rest. The leftovers are the national parks, national forests, and BLM lands. If someone had desperately wanted them before 1935, they could have had them--and had them for free. They didn't want them and so passed them by. As a government surveyor, Ferdinand V. Hayden surveyed Yellowstone in 1871, and his geological assessment remains as true now as it was true then. It's mostly basaltic rock. It's too high for major grazing and agriculture. Why not make it a national park? Believe me, if Yellowstone ever turns out to have 40 billion barrels of oil instead of 1600 square miles of simmering magma, Mr. Haynes will not have to protest a thing. The park will come undone in an instant as gas-guzzling Americans east, west, north, and south demand the "sacrifice." We are a people of consumption, not of preservation. Our "best idea" has always hung by a thread.


Alfred - Our population has almost tripled since 1939. What was then unattractive land is now the best available.

Perhaps this should make some think about the consequences of the disaster that is currently occuring on our southern border. 


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