Public Land Management: Issues & Implications

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1 Public Land Management: Issues & Implications John C. Ruple Wallace Stegner Center Fellow Associate Professor of Law (Research) S.J. Quinney College of Law, University of Utah National Conference of State Legislators June 22-23, 2017

2 National Parks (NPS) Wildlife Refuges (FWS) Public Lands (BLM) National Forests (USFS) [C]onserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations. Land and water conservation, management, and where appropriate, restoration of the fish, wildlife, and plant resources and their habitats within the United States for the benefit of present and future generations. [M]anage the public lands under the principles of multiple use and sustained yield. To improve and protect forests or to secure favorable conditions of water flows, and to furnish a continuous supply of timber. Administer for outdoor recreation, range, timber, watershed, and wildlife and fish purposes. 84+m acres 417 units 150+m acres 562 refuges 248.2m acres (surface) 700.4m acres (minerals) 190m acres 154 National Forests 20 Nat l Grasslands 331m annual visits 47m annual visits 62m annual visits 149m annual visits Conservation overlays like Wilderness may apply to all

3 Federal v. State Federal Lands USFS & BLM Managed to benefit all Americans Multiple use, sustained yield mandate including conservation Conservation area and overlays National Monuments Wilderness Etc. State Trust Lands Granted to states by the US Government Managed for specified purposes and beneficiaries Fiduciary obligation to generate market rate of return form beneficiaries

5 Acres of Federal Land Granted to States (Statehood Grants) Source: Paul W. Gates, History of Public Land Law Development (1968). State Public Public Schools Buildings Universities A&M Colleges Other Total Grants % of State Arizona 8,093, , , ,000 1,900,000 10,489, % California 5,534,293 6,400 46, ,000 2,693,965 8,430, % Colorado 3,685,618 32,000 46,080 91, ,080 4,433, % Idaho 2,963,698 32,000 96,080 90, ,187 3,663, % Montana 5,198, ,000 46, , ,120 6,029, % Nevada 2,061,967 12,800 46,080 90, ,800 2,723, % New Mexico 8,711, , , ,000 3,040,000 12,446, % Oregon 3,399,360 6,400 46,080 90,000 3,543,402 7,085, % Utah 5,844,196 64, , ,000 1,150,000 7,414, % Washington 2,376, ,000 46,080 90, ,000 3,044, % Wyoming 3,472, ,000 46,080 90, ,480 4,248, % TOTAL 51,341, ,600 1,133,422 1,431,600 15,296,034 54,712, %

Military Bounty Act Homestead Act; Agricultural College Script Act Timber Culture Act Desert Lands Act Repeal of: TCA, Preemption Act, & Cash Sale System Utah Admitted to the Union Kinkaid Homestead

6 Military Bounty Act Homestead Act; Agricultural College Script Act Timber Culture Act Desert Lands Act Repeal of: TCA, Preemption Act, & Cash Sale System Utah Admitted to the Union Kinkaid Homestead Act Homestead Act Enlarged Stockraising Homestead Act 40,000,000 35,000,000 Acres of Federal Public Land Patents and Disposal Source: Annual Reports of the Commissioner of the General Land Office to the Secretary of the Interior (1851 through 1925). 30,000,000 Patents and disposals declined by 69.5% between 1884 and ,531,172 25,000,000 20,000,000 15,000,000 10,000, ,406,849 5,000,000 Note: Accounting conventions changed over time. Earlier reports treated entries as disposal while later reports distinguished between entries and patents. This Figure adopts the definition of disposal used in the Annual Report for the year reported. Mean Disposal (13,212,447) Mean Disposal (12,994,190)

13 28.6% 28.0% 52.6% 62.5% 48.1% Land Ownership (millions of acres) Source: Department of the Interior, Public Land Statistics % 83.1% 64.5% 36.2% 45.4% 34.1% 64.8%

14 Land Ownership (millions of acres) Source: Department of the Interior, Public Land Statistics 2015 Land Total Federal Federal BLM USFS % Fed % Fed Surface Minerals Surface Surface Surface Mineral Alaska % 64.8% Arizona % 49.3% California % 47.4% Colorado % 43.6% Idaho % 69.0% Montana % 40.5% Nevada % 83.5% New Mexico % 46.3% Oregon % 55.0% Utah % 66.8% Washington % 29.3% Wyoming % 66.7%

15 Public Lands & Payments to States [N]o taxes shall be imposed by the State on lands or property therein belonging to or which may hereafter be purchased by the United States or reserved for its use. Utah Enabling Act, 28 Stat. 107, 108 (1894). See also, United States v. State Tax Comm n of Mississippi, 412 U.S. 363 (1973) (holding that federal lands cannot be subjected to local taxing authority). States may impose severance taxes on commodities extracted from the land, including land owned by the federal government. Commonwealth Edison Co. v. Montana, 453 U.S. 609 (1981) (upholding a thirty-percent state severance tax on coal mined from federal land). States may also impose property taxes on equipment associated with commodity production or even the value of the commodities themselves. See e.g., Utah Code Ann (1)(a)(v) and (vi) (2014) (tax valuation of mining properties). Federal Government makes payments to states to offset tax revenue forgone, and shares revenue generated from federal lands with states.

16 Select Payments from Federal Lands and State Severance Taxes FY 2014 Sources: Headwaters Economics, Economic Profile System-Human Dimensions Toolkit; and Cheryl Lee et al., U.S. Census Bureau, State Government Tax Collections Summary Report: 2014 (2015). State Severance Taxes PILT Payments Forest Service Payments BLM Payments FWS Refuge Payments Federal Mineral Royalties Total Arizona $26,190,000 $34,497,956 $14,233,459 $958,851 $120,122 $17,821 $76,044,399 California $38,686,000 $45,298,833 $33,699,465 $(21,570) $936,682 $104,096,729 $222,734,825 Colorado $245,087,000 $34,530,642 $12,785,953 $846,240 $570,361 $171,674,589 $465,739,872 Idaho $6,004,000 $28,579,192 $25,971,900 $1,652,554 $49,934 $5,552,387 $67,815,971 Montana $305,614,000 $28,809,242 $20,355,836 $3,739,764 $261,651 $38,164,481 $397,250,588 Nevada $111,395,000 $25,439,484 $3,980,106 $2,623,024 $70,815 $7,206,707 $150,826,531 New Mexico $1,066,343,000 $37,677,905 $10,224,819 $3,150,333 $107,448 $579,084,340 $1,697,654,188 Oregon $23,424,000 $17,680,594 $65,324,385 $39,020,429 $288,005 $287,703 $146,048,540 Utah $155,743,000 $37,903,225 $10,099,253 $1,346,364 $57,662 $216,648,402 $421,953,649 Washington $41,950,000 $19,272,636 $19,972,728 $49,762 $538,396 $4,799 $81,830,271 Wyoming $883,025,000 $27,143,411 $4,179,360 $2,373,515 $414,164 $2,060,219,563 $2,978,238,038 Total $2,903,461,000 $336,833,120 $220,827,264 $55,739,266 $3,415,240 $3,182,957,521 $6,706,136,872

17 $4,500,000,000 Federal Land Payments Contiguous Western States Source: Headwaters Economics, Economic Profile System-Human Dimensions Toolkit $4,000,000,000 $3,500,000,000 $3,000,000,000 $2,500,000,000 $2,000,000,000 $1,500,000,000 $1,000,000,000 $500,000,000 $- PILT FS BLM FWS ONRR TOTAL

18 $350,000,000 Federal Land Payments Utah Source: Headwaters Economics, Economic Profile System-Human Dimensions Toolkit $300,000,000 $250,000,000 $200,000,000 $150,000,000 $100,000,000 $50,000,000 $- PILT USFS BLM FWS ONRR TOTAL

19 $100,000,000 Federal Land Payments Washington Source: Headwaters Economics, Economic Profile System-Human Dimensions Toolkit $90,000,000 $80,000,000 $70,000,000 $60,000,000 $50,000,000 $40,000,000 $30,000,000 $20,000,000 $10,000,000 $- PILT FS BLM FWS ONRR TOTAL

20 Outdoor Recreation Employment Source: Outdoor Industry Association, The Outdoor Recreation Economy (2012) 6.1 million jobs $646 billion in outdoor rec. spending $39.9 billion in federal tax revenue $39.7 billion in state/local tax revenue

21 Annual Consumer Spending 2010 (Billion $) Source: Outdoor Industry Association, The Outdoor Recreation Economy (2012)

22 National Park Unit Impacts Source: Headwaters Economics, National Park s Economic Impacts, (May 2017).

23 $41,000 Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument: Boon or Bust? Per Capita Personal Income (2016 Dollars) Source: Headwaters Economics, Economic Profile System-Human Dimensions Toolkit $39,000 $37,000 Percent Change Kane & Garfield Counties Utah 35.3% Utah Non-Metro 44.7% Utah Metro 27.6% $35,000 $33,000 $31,000 $29,000 $27,000 $25,

24 Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument: Boon or Bust? Source: Headwaters Economics, Economic Profile System-Human Dimensions Toolkit Population Job Growth Growth Kane & Garfield Counties Utah 18.0% 37.1% Utah Non-Metro 38.7% 53.2% Utah Metro 45.6% 53.0% Jobs growing more than twice as fast as the population Slower rate of community change

25 Utah Admitted to the Union Federal Government Revenue Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Historical Statistics of the United States (1949) Series P Federal Government Finances--Treasury Receipts, and Surplus or Deficit: 1789 to % Customs % of total receipts Tax % of total receipts Land Sale % of total receipts 80% 60% 40% 20% 0%

27 The Economic Story... (million of dollars) All figures from: AN ANALYSIS OF A TRANSFER OF FEDERAL LANDS TO THE STATE OF UTAH (2014). Total Revenue $332 Management Cost - $247 Federal Payments - $35 Surplus(!) $50

28 The Economic Story, continued... (million of dollars) All figures from: AN ANALYSIS OF A TRANSFER OF FEDERAL LANDS TO THE STATE OF UTAH (2014). Total Revenue $332 (MLA Revenue $308) Total MLA Revenue $308 (All Other Revenue $24) Fed. MLA Revenue $158 Utah MLA Revenue $150

29 The Economic Story, continued... (million of dollars) All figures from: AN ANALYSIS OF A TRANSFER OF FEDERAL LANDS TO THE STATE OF UTAH (2014). Total Revenue $332 (MLA Revenue $308) Total MLA Revenue $308 (All Other Revenue $24) Fed. MLA Revenue $158 Utah MLA Revenue $150 New MLA Revenue $158 All Other Revenue $24 Management Cost - $247 Federal Payments - $35 Potential Deficit -$100

31 $ Uncertain Revenue July. 2008, $ Utah FPP Oil Price Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration $ $75.00 $50.00 $25.00 Feb. 2009, $26.98 $- Jan Jan Jan Jan Jan Jan Jan Jan Jan Jan Jan Jan. 2015

32 Uncertain Management Costs Total Acres Burned by Wildfire & Acres of State Land Treated by Prescribed Fire in Utah Source: National Interagency Fire Center 700, , ,000 Total Acres UT Rx Acres 500, , , , ,000-63, ,

33 Active Management to the Rescue? Jeffrey P. Prestemon, Karen L. Abt, Kevin M. Potter, and Frank H. Koch, An Economic Assessment of Mountain Pine Beetle Timber Salvage in the West, 28 WEST. J. APPL. FORESTRY 143 (2013).

34 Risk & Uncertainty Revenue Expenses $ Time

35 Risk & Uncertainty Expenses Revenue $ Time

36 Questions or Comments: John Ruple (801)

The Greater Sage-Grouse:

The Greater Sage-Grouse: Hunter opinions regarding potential conservation strategies in eleven western states For: National Wildlife Federation October 30, 2014 PO Box 6435 Fernandina Beach, FL 32035 Tel