March 03, 2017 01:24 PM UTC

La Plata County Asks Tipton To Resist Whackadoo Public Lands Bill

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• by: Colorado Pols

As the Durango Herald’s Jessica Pace reported this week–although Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah pulled a bill earlier this year to sell off “surplus” public lands under heavy criticism from conservationists, Chaffetz is evidently not done trying to weaken protections over wild Western lands–and locals in Southwest Colorado are sounding the alarm:

La Plata County commissioners and law enforcement have asked Congressman Scott Tipton, R-Cortez, to oppose a bill that would delegate responsibility for policing public lands to local agencies.

On Tuesday, commissioners Brad Blake and Julie Westendorff voted to approve the letter, addressed to Tipton as well as Sens. Michael Bennet and Cory Gardner. Commissioner Gwen Lachelt was absent.

The Local Enforcement for Local Lands Act, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, would terminate the law enforcement functions of the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management as well as related funding…

About 657 square miles, or 39 percent, of La Plata County is federal land. The transition would mean more deputies and record-keeping.

This bill appears to be another case of fancied “local control” of public resources, that in fact translates to a much larger burden for local governments–a burden they neither want nor need as relations between federal land managers and local governments are generally pretty good outside of Cliven Bundy territory. There’s no good reason to hand off this responsibility to local governments unless it’s your hope that there will be fewer resources available for law enforcement on federal lands.

You know, like Cliven Bundy wanted.

Responding to concerns from Southwest Colorado constituents, Rep. Scott Tipton seems, well, annoyed:

A spokeswoman for Tipton’s office said Tipton will review the county’s letter, and said the U.S. representative has supported or led multiple pro-public lands initiatives.

“He has voted repeatedly for funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and he is an original co-sponsor of a bill introduced by Rep. (Jared) Polis that expands the boundaries of the Arapaho National Forest,” spokeswoman Liz Payne said in a statement. “It seems like these things are either forgotten about or never get mentioned.”

That’s nice, but:

Payne said Tipton has no position on the law enforcement bill. [Pols emphasis]

So yes, it would seem that La Plata County’s letter expressing concern is justified.