SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) 鈥 A Republican-sponsored proposal before Congress to mandate the sale of federal public lands received a mixed reception Monday from the governors of Western states.
A budget proposal from Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee 3,125 square miles (8,093 square kilometers) of federal lands to state or other entities. It was included recently in a draft provision of the GOP鈥檚 sweeping tax cut package.
At a summit Monday of Western state governors, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said the approach is problematic in New Mexico because of the close relationship residents have with those public lands.
鈥淚'm open鈥 to the idea, said Lujan Grisham, a second-term Democratic governor and former congresswoman. 鈥淓xcept here.鈥
鈥淥ur public lands, we have a very strong relationship with the openness, and they belong to all of us,鈥 said Lujan Grisham, who was announcing written recommendations Monday on affordable housing strategies from the Western Governors鈥 Association. 鈥淎nd selling that to the private sector without a process, without putting New Mexicans first, is, for at least for me as a governor, going to be problematic.鈥
Interior Department Secretary Doug Burgum was among the leaders from several federal agencies who attended the meeting that runs through Tuesday. the many potential uses for public lands that include recreation, logging and oil and gas production, saying it could boost local economies.
Several hundred protesters in downtown Santa Fe denounced efforts that might privatize federal public lands, chanting 鈥渘ot for sale鈥 and carrying signs reading 鈥淭his land belongs to you and me鈥 and 鈥渒eep our public land free for future generations.鈥
Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon voiced qualified support for plans to tap federal land for development.
鈥淥n a piece-by-piece basis where states have the opportunity to craft policies that make sense ... we can actually allow for some responsible growth in areas with communities that are landlocked at this point,鈥 he said at a news conference outside the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe. 鈥淭here may be value there.鈥
Lee has said federal land sales under his proposal would target 鈥渋solated parcels鈥 that could be used for housing or infrastructure, and would not include national parks, national monuments or wilderness.
Land in 11 Western states from Alaska to New Mexico would be eligible for sale. Montana was carved out of the proposal after its lawmakers objected.
In some states, such as Utah and Nevada, the government controls the vast majority of lands, protecting them from potential exploitation but hindering growth.
