Lawmakers Reintroduce Federal Land Disposal Legislation

Press Release

In an effort to liquidate federal lands identified by the Clinton Administration for disposal, Senators Mike Lee (UT) and John McCain (AZ), and Congressman Jason Chaffetz (UT -- 03) reintroduced the Disposal of Excess Federal Lands Act.

Lee: "It is long past time to liquidate these federal lands and hand them over to those who will carefully and responsibly manage the property."

McCain:"The federal budget, much like the household budgets of millions of American families, is stretched alarmingly thin in today's fiscal climate. Our legislation aims to reduce the federal estate in a way that's mindful of how we currently manage our public lands and only seeks to dispose land that the federal government simply does not want. With more than 450,000 acres of federally managed land identified by the Interior Department as being eligible for disposal in Arizona, our citizens could reap tremendous benefits by putting this land to use in the private sector."

Chaffetz: "While there are national treasures worthy of federal protection, there are lands that should be returned to private ownership. If the lands serves no public purpose, and are "identified for disposal', let's put them to use in a way that will benefit the states and local communities."

A 1997 Clinton Administration report performed by the Interior Department identified approximately 3.3 million acres of land deemed suitable for sale to non-federal entities. The Disposal of Excess Federal Lands Act would responsibly dispose of the nearly 3.3 million acres of land the federal government identified by government agencies for disposal. This disposal would equate to just over 1% of BLM land and less than one half of 1% of all federal lands. In Utah there were 132,931 acres of eligible land identified by the Clinton Administration.

S. 361 was introduced this week in the Senate. H.R. 435 was previous introduced in the House.

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