National Parks

The US federal government has seized 30% of the US landmass to establish National Parks, deserts and other federal land for wildlife corridors. This was done without an Amendment to allow the federal government to “own” land and is currently unconstitutional.

To restore the rule of law to the federal government, it’s time for Congress to address this issue. The first step is to address the requests that have been made by States. The first issue that needs to be addressed should establish who owned this land before the federal government seized it. These people and groups may have valid claims and if we want to continue to support private property rights, we need to settle these issues.

The American Indians may not have a case, because they lost the Indian wars.  The States might not have a case if families can produce legal deeds to the seized property.  If there are no valid claims, the States may want to take legal possession of the land, so they can sell off those portions the private sector might want to buy. Up to this point, this “federal land” has simply been warehoused.

Several Western States have requested that the federal government needs to release this land back to the States.  The Interior Department has indicated that they do not have the funds to take care of all of their holdings.

It seems like it is time for the federal government to reduce the amount of land it “administers”. Much of this “federal land” is timberland that catches fire annually and it needs to be “administered” by the timber industry. There are portions of this “federal land” that could be returned to farmers and ranchers and should be sold back to the private sector or leased by the States.

“Federal Land” includes oil, gas and minerals that could be extracted, so much of this land could be put to productive use. Alaska wants to drill oil and gas on “federal land” and most of Alaska is “federal land”.

The actual parks that are set up for tourists could be preserved for the few who like to visit these parks, but these could also be taken over by the States. The States may need time to make sure that they generate enough revenue to break even before they take over.  For those parks that remain, Congress would still need to file an Amendment to expand their “enumerated powers” and have the States ratify this Amendment.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader