Most voters -- except those in Utah and Wyoming -- oppose efforts to transfer federal lands, such as this area of Canyonlands National Park, over to the states/Kurt Repanshek
A public opinion poll of eight Western states has produced somewhat contradictory results when it comes to federal lands in those states. While strong numbers voiced positive views of agencies such as the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service, equally strong numbers held their state governments in higher esteem than the federal government. Overall, though, a slight majority opposes proposals to turn federal lands over to the states.
The polling conducted earlier this month comes as legislators in Utah are threatening to sue the federal government if it doesn't hand over federal lands in the Beehive State and as some congressional delegations in the region chafe at federal land ownership and management.
In Utah, state Rep. Ken Ivory two years ago sponsored the Transfer of Public Lands Act and Related Study, which was signed into law by Gov. Gary Herbert in March 2012. The bill established a deadline of this coming December 31 for the federal government to turn over Utah's nearly 20 million acres of public lands to the state, or it will sue. (It should be noted, though, that Utah's Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel advised the Legislature that the measure has "a high probability of being held unconstitutional.")
According to the Center for American Progress, which conducted the polling, similar legislative efforts are under way or in development in seven other Western states. And yet, the group's polling Sept. 10-14 found that 52 percent of the 1,600 voters contacted oppose a transfer of federal lands to their states. That majority feared, the pollsters said, that such a transfer would lead to higher state taxes or would lead their legislatures to sell off the lands rather than bear the costs of managing them.
'In New Mexico, we have a deep connection to our public lands. They are part of our history, our culture, and our economy,' said Sen. Martin Heinrich in a release outlining the polling results. 'These lands belong to all of us, and it is imperative that we keep it that way. Efforts to seize or sell off millions of acres of federal public lands throughout the West would bring a proliferation of closed gates and no trespassing signs in places that have been open and used for generations. These privatization schemes would devastate outdoor traditions such as hunting and fishing that are among the pillars of Western culture and a thriving outdoor recreation economy.'
* 76 percent of the respondents thought the National Park Service was doing a good job managing the parks;
* 73 percent approved of the jobs being done by both the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Forest Service;
* 48 percent approved of the job being done by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (vs. 34 percent who disapproved);
* 68 percent had a negative view of the federal government.
Among the states surveyed -- Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Idaho, Oregon and New Mexico -- only Utah and Wyoming respondents favored a transfer of federal lands to their states. In Utah, 52 percent of the respondents were in favor, while in Wyoming 48 percent backed such a proposal vs. 46 percent opposed. Overall, a slight majority (47 percent vs 44 percent) of respondents who had never visited a federal landscape during the past year were in favor of the lands transfer.
Another aspect of the polling found that a strong majority of respondents (72 percent) "consider public lands like national forests and BLM lands to be more 'American places' than 'state places.''
You can find the questions for the survey here.
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Comments
Sorry to hear you guys are for the importation of Ebola and the stripping of Constitutional liberties from American citizens while being against teaching people how to safely handle a firearm.
* 68 percent had a negative view of the federal government.
Liberal and progressives are responsible for this, thier dishonest and baseless demonization tactics are easily exposed and have turned off the people. Lee won't point to anything specific because he can't, these guys are so phoney.
Beachdump, your constant vitrol is very easily tuned out. You speak only for a hateful intolerant minority.
Gary, perhaps you need to go back to your school. 68% is not a minority.
You see what I mean, Lee?
I'm talking about how he acts, specifically. And seriously, the 68% view goes beyond pointing the finger strictly at liberals. That's a mere strawman. Especially, considering this GOP controlled do-nothing house was recently polled as being one of the worst in the history of people's lives.
Actually the GOP controlls the House while the Dems controll the Senate. It is the combo that is polling among the worst
Fact is theHouse has passed hundreds of bills that the Senate has failed to even consider.
Also it is interesting that while the Congress as a whole has a very unfavorable national rating, the House and Senate members individually have much more even ratings within their own districts.
* 68 percent had a negative view of the federal government.
Obama administration = Federal Government
NPS administration = Federal Government
Most of the on ground NPS folks are good people, but I have heard many times "I don't agree with it either, but it's my job".
Can't do the simple thing can you Gary? You have shutdown so many threads here by your vitriol that I'd call you the vitriol Queen.
How cute referring to me as a "queen". At least i've got balls to use my real name here. What's your excuse?
And 75% of westerners had a favorable view of the NPS, specifically. While they maybe part of the federal government, they are obviously one of the more respected departments in the federal government. And Beach, your entire knowledge of the NPS is just railing against Cape Hatteras, which is definitely not in the west, and has nothing to do with this thread.
"Sorry to hear you guys are for the importation of Ebola and the stripping of Constitutional liberties from American citizens while being against teaching people how to safely handle a firearm."
Absolutely not. That's a prime example of your twisting of other people's words to try to "prove" one of your far out points.
No one wants Ebola here. No one wants to strip Constitutional liberties. I'm entirely in favor of teaching people how to safely handle a firearm -- in fact, I used to teach firearm safety classes in Utah's Hunter Safety program.
But I cannot, and will not support the kind of hate filled garbage I witnessed on your Tea Party website. I haven't seen that kind of pathetic filth since the day I went exploring in a white supremacist site.
We have problems to solve in this country. But we won't solve them with hate.
Lee...
That Ebola accusation is a prime example of how thin the social veneer is that the wild eyed nuttiness hides behind. Those sort of reckless word games are dispicable.
First - its not my site. It is the site of one group that espouses the Tea Party core principles.
Second, what exactly is the "hate filled garbage". You still haven't given an example. Again the only examples you gave were about Ebola, stripped liberties and gun education and yet now you claim you agree with them (the articles).
There is nothing worse there than what I see every night on TV from left wing orgs supporting their candidates (local news orgs have called the ads deceptive and unfair), from the likes of left wing commentators and from similar progressive websites. For that matter, I have seen more vitriol here by some but I certainly wouldn't demonize the entire NPS because of the comments of a few.
If what is on that website are the Tea Party "core principles," then everyone needs to have a chance to view that website to learn what the Tea Party really stands for. Your claim that I somehow agree with the articles on the website is just one more example of your bending, twisting and flipping the words of others that make it impossible to try to conduct any kind of reasonable discussion with you.
What is on the Tea Party website has to be fueled by pure paranoid fantasy, hate, and mental illness. I pity you and others who subscribe to it. While I used to regard the Tea Party with a sort of amusement, I now realize that we must actually fear it. It goes far beyond mere politics and ventures into the realm of ideological insanity. It is no different than the ideological insanity of the extremes of the Muslim religion.
Lee - you haven't produced any words to twist. You cited the articles as reasons to demonize the Tea Party. One could only assume you disagreed with the articles. But then when challanged you indicated you agreed with the artiticles:
No one wants Ebola here. No one wants to strip Constitutional liberties. I'm entirely in favor of teaching people how to safely handle a firearm
But when it was pointed out that is what the articles said, you call it twisting your words. What exactly "disgusts" you. Perhaps if you actually took a position people wouldn't "twist" your non-existent words.
C'mon, folks, the Tea Party debate has dragged on long enough and there's nothing left to say that will convince you guys to switch sides. Let's move on.
Kurt, I don't think anyone is trying to convince anyone to switch sides. What is being pointed out is the baseless demonization of the TP by the left. Lee has shown us a clear example of it. If the left love America, then why do they want to fundamentally change it?
Regardless, the Feds over reach continues to fuel the wants of States to regain control of lands asked by thier constituents. In the "east" we have pondered this as well, but would rather the Feds loosen thier grip that is hurting the States.
Let's just leave it at this. It appears that beach and Kurt and others here have not actually taken a look a the stuff on the TP website. Do it and then see if you don't understand what I'm trying to point out.
Don't just stop at the home page. Dig around.
http://www.teaparty.org/
Ohh boy, the world is always in change, so of course the US will too. Some still like to pretend it's the 1950s, or in someones case the 1860s, and it's hard to find that mentality anything but laughable.
And seriously, a few extremists in the "east" have pondered killing off federal lands, and they definitely do not represent the sentiment of the majority, and I live in the middle of "bagger country" and it's funny that all those that carry the gadsen sure do make thier money from the tourists simply because these lands are protected by the feds. The hypocrisy and short sighted views are very noticable. Even Butch Otter, the governor of Idaho said attempting to have these lands transferred to the state is a waste of time, and he's about as red as they come. Utah, and especially the mormon population has always had anti-government sentiments, so it's not suprising they share those views, but most of the west is not Mormon once you get outside of Utah. . And I think this polling is quite legit on the sentiments in the West.. The people in the west that want to see the states take over the public lands and lock them up, are always the types that never went out into the landscape. Those that do, whether they are hunters, hikers, mountain bikers, or anglers do not want to see them fall into the hands of the states. The only ones that seem to want state takeover are those in the logging/mining industries, or those that just don't utiliize public lands at all. And this poll did state that a majority of the people with the "takeover mentality" don't utilize public lands.
Lee, you will have to help. If you don't point to something, then one can only conclude your guilty of the the baseless demonization. I looked around and most of the content are just reprints of articles from other sources. I get that a lot of the content does shed your side not in a good light, but I havent found anything untruthful.
I dont belong to any of the TP orgs or groups but on the surface I think I support most of what they stand for. I see a lot of demonization of the TP but I can't find anything to back it up. I am being honest and would hope you will too.
http://www.teaparty.org/michael-savage-blames-president-obola-virus-u-s-...
http://www.teaparty.org/hottea/
That image where a little kid is pointing a gun at the camera and the caption says "Take your globalist ideas and get out" is rather funny. Yet, I don't feel scared or threatned by these jokes. Provincial crazies that can't adapt to a changing world is all I see from that image. They are the Murican' taliban, and remind me of the lunatic fringe in other countries that have kids roaming the streets with AKs.. And honestly, I have no problem with gun ownership either. But this showcases that they seem to want to use kids as war pawns to fight their "revolution".
opps double post.
Lee, those are really thin. Savage's rhetoric might sound to be over top but he has a point. They stopped flights to Isreal but won't stop flights from Ebola affected regions? If he had, the Texas incident might not have happened.
Youth Firearm training is bad? I remember getting firearm and hunting safety classes in highschool. Of course the TP is doing this to help with thier fight to protect the 2nd amendment but I fail to see this as disgusting.
Sorry, but I still stand by my accusation of your baseless demonization.
Having a child pointing a gun at a camera with the slogan "Take your globalist ideas and get out" reminds me very much of those extremists in places like the DRC, Afghanistan, and Somalia that use children as pawns to fight wars. Of course you wouldn't see anything wrong with that. It's one thing if that article had rhetoric other than constantly harping the terms "FIGHT, BLAST, THROW THEM OUT LIKE GARBAGE, TRAITORS" all while having kids pointing guns at a camera. I think the message is clear. This isn't about training kids to hunt bambi, it's training for them to fight librals' during their revolution. But hey, I obtained my edumakation at one of those scary liberal universities in media, so I can see right through the tongue-in-cheek connotations. I'm obviously their enemy.
Now if the kid was pointing the gun away from the camera, with the old white guy helping him point it properly, and it said "teach children proper gun safety before going out on a hunting trip", the connotations and imagery would take on a much different meaning. But, I get it loud and clear. Welcome to Teaberia, where old crazy extremists are brainwashing their kids how to shoot guns at liberals! And then you wonder why there is this big divide between the two.
I guess you missed the 18 other pictures that were doing exactly that. And no, the kid wasn't aiming at the camera, he was aiming down range and the photographer wanted to get a front shot and moved into position to do so.
You have quite the imagination.
Nice attempt to divert once again, EC. That seems to be your best talent, but the image is crystal clear in the middle of the page. It doesn't use any of those other images. It uses the one with the kid pointing the gun at the viewer. Isn't that a very bad example of gun safety, or was it just poor choice by the editor? Or maybe it was intended? By the way, I'd rather have an imagination over a complete lack of one.
At least Gary gets it.
Hopefully there are others out there, too.
True patriots don't have to use inflammatory hateful rhetoric to get their points across.
Those who do are frightening to those of us who are at least more or less sane.
And apparently they haven't since you haven't identified any.
yet here are snipetts from your posts Lee and Garys?
Well wild places, if stating that the tea party is a facade for corporatist neocon republicans playing the oil/warmongering game, and they dupe a hateful intolerant group of bigots, religious fanatics, anti-education & anti-science folks by promoting an agenda of guns, gods, and xenophobia, then i'm guilty as charged. Because that is exactly what the tea party has morphed into.
Also there are a few members of the tea party in the do-nothing house. Finally, I don't care if i'm a patriot, or considered one. And to keep with the thread, I enjoy going into federal public lands, and want to see them remain protected from the clamoring hands of the tea party extremists.
Well Gary, to be fair (and ballanced:) one might consider what the Democratic Party has morphed into. If one might see behind the illusion on that side of the isle one might also see the reality on the other. Have to think more of that is happening. Dropping the PC would be a good start.
Gary, I think you are the hateful intolerant one.
Well, it appears that many of us are firmly on one side or the other, have ourselves fully justified why we're on the side of goodness and light, and how those other people on the Other Side are dangerous, soil the carpet routinely, and abduct small animals for science experiments. We have all identified the players. Everyone here is a chronilogical adult, at least theoretically capable of independent thought, and everyone has had ample opportunity to consider the Other Guy and to change sides if warranted. That ain't happening.
That said, the only thing left along these discussion lines is the opportunity to leave stains in Kurt's livingroom and to raise our individual blood pressure.
It's been fun - I've been as much of a muckraker as everyone else - but I'd really prefer to get to discussing the parks in a more substantive manner, better observing the rules of decorum my mother taught me.
I can see it now. Slowy states will sell off pieces of the National Parks until there is nothing left but private land. There will be no more family trips to places like Yellow Stone, Yosemite, or the Grand Canyon. All of those beautiful buffalo will be killed off by the new land owners. From someone who has visited those places, I'd like for them to be left as is so future generations can enjoy them as much as I have.
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