Idaho AG Labrador Joins Utah in Blatant Public Land Grab Attempt - NOW FEATURING Call to action
Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador recently filed an Amicus Brief with the US Supreme Court in support of an effort by the state of Utah to dispose of our federal public lands into state ownership. The arguments in the Amicus Brief follow an all-too-familiar anti-public lands playbook –extolling the virtues of state management of public lands while blatantly ignoring the reality that state management at this scale is a one-way ticket to full privatization.
The lawsuit was originally submitted to the Supreme Court by the State of Utah and is a threat to federal ownership of all public lands across the United States. Utah claims to be interested solely in 18.5 million acres of “unappropriated lands” managed by the Bureau of Land Management, and the Idaho Amicus brief purports to focus on 9 million acres of BLM within our own borders. This would be bad enough, but the lawsuit raises the question of whether the federal government can hold lands in perpetuity at all. That could potentially be interpreted to encompass all federally owned lands – meaning that more than 30 million acres of public land in Idaho, including the Sawtooths, the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness, Hell’s Canyon, all the jewels of our state - could be at risk of sale to the highest bidder. It may sound crazy, but the Supreme Court is not bound by public opinion and the action taken by the Attorney General may deprive future generations of the ability to explore and build memories on these iconic landscapes.
Idaho currently has 2.5 million acres of State-owned land, down from the 3.6 million that it was originally granted, and the state has a constitutional obligation to maximize the financial return on this land. If a sufficiently good offer comes in to buy State land, even if generations of Idahoans have hunted, fished, hiked, and built family traditions there, the state is required to prioritize the financial outcome over any other consideration. The recent battle to save State lands around Payette Lakes highlights the perpetual risk of privatization that these lands face and is a keen reminder that our most beloved places are the most likely to go first.
Idaho does not have the financial resources to manage this additional acreage were it to come into state hands – particularly when fire management costs are considered. In 2024, Idaho spent more than $50 million fighting fires on State lands, and that was with only 2.5 million acres currently in possession. With millions more acres to manage, the state would have no recourse but to sell land to pay the bills.
Federally managed public lands are central to the Idaho way of life, and the outdoor recreation economy that is based on them generates billions every year. From the Snake River Plain to the Panhandle, our state is blessed with countless mountains, rivers, forests and grasslands that provide habitat to fish and wildlife and world class recreational opportunities for Idahoans. Without public lands, the outdoor economy would be decimated, as would the jobs that depend on them. The current large swaths of contiguous habitat that enable our migrating herds of elk, deer, and pronghorn to travel along their ancestral routes will be parceled out and lost.
“The value of these lands is incalculable, and the current effort by the Attorney General to transfer and dispose of them should be called out for what it is – a shortsighted assault on Idaho’s outdoor heritage. Whatever the motivations might be for this reckless gambit on the public lands that so many of us have built our lives around, the Attorney General has showed his hand here,” says IWF Executive Director Nick Fasciano. “His Amicus Brief is dripping with disdain for our most cherished outdoor resources. The people of Idaho have repeatedly demonstrated their desire to keep public lands public, and this move transparently disregards the will of the people and the best interests of Idahoans”
Labrador leads the charge in claiming that federally-managed public lands are an extreme idea, and one that Idaho suffers from. His Amicus states “there is no realistic hope that the problem will be solved through the political process.” Reason being: The electorate does not view public lands as a problem. Idahoans know the value of keeping public lands in public hands, and this latest effort is an attempt to subvert the will of the people and deprive us and future generations of our greatest assets.