Governors of Western states give mixed reactions to proposed federal land sell-off
A budget proposal from Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee would mandate the sale of more than 2 million acres of federal lands to state or other entities. It was included recently in a draft provision of the GOP's 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.
'I'm open' to the idea, said Lujan Grisham, a second-term Democratic governor and former congresswoman. 'Except here.'
'Our public lands, we have a very strong relationship with the openness, and they belong to all of us,' said Lujan Grisham, who was announcing written recommendations Monday on affordable housing strategies from the Western Governors' Association. 'And 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.'
Interior Department Secretary Doug Burgum is among the leaders from several federal agencies scheduled to attend the meeting of the association on Monday and Tuesday. Conservation groups vowed to stage public protests over plans to cede public land to development.
Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon voiced qualified support for plans to tap federal land for development.
'On 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,' he told a news conference outside the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in downtown Santa Fe. 'There may be value there.'
Lee has said federal land sales under his proposal would target 'isolated parcels' 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.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
7 minutes ago
- The Hill
A half-million young Catholics invade Rome, awaiting Pope Leo XIV at Holy Year youth festival
ROME (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of young Catholics poured into a vast field on Rome's outskirts Saturday for the weekend highlight of the Vatican's 2025 Holy Year: an evening vigil, outdoor slumber party and morning Mass celebrated by Pope Leo XIV that marks his first big encounter with the next generation of Catholics. Leo will surely like what he sees: For the past week, bands of young Catholics from around the world have invaded the area around St. Peter's Square for their special Jubilee celebration, in this Holy Year in which 32 million people are expected to descend on Rome to participate in a centuries-old pilgrimage to the seat of Catholicism. The young people have been traipsing through cobblestoned streets in color-coordinated t-shirts, praying the Rosary and singing hymns with guitars, bongo drums and tambourines shimmying alongside. Using their flags as tarps to shield them from the sun, they have taken over entire piazzas for Christian rock concerts and inspirational talks, and stood for hours at the Circus Maximus to confess their sins to 1,000 priests offering the sacrament in a dozen different languages. On Saturday, they began arriving at the Tor Vergata field on the eastern flank of Rome for the culmination of their Jubilee celebration — the encounter with Leo. After walking five kilometers (three miles) from the nearest subway station, they passed through security checks, picked up their boxed meals and set up camp, backpacks and sleeping bags at the ready and umbrellas planted to give them shade. Leo, who was elected in May as the first American pope, was flying in by helicopter Saturday evening to preside over the vigil and a question-and-answer session. He was then returning to the Vatican for the night and coming back for a popemobile romp and Mass on Sunday morning. A mini World Youth Day, 25 years later It all has the vibe of a World Youth Day, the Catholic Woodstock festival that St. John Paul II inaugurated and made famous in 2000 in Rome at the very same Tor Vergata field. Then, before an estimated 2 million people, John Paul told the young pilgrims they were the 'sentinels of the morning' at the dawn of the third millennium. Officials had initially expected 500,000 youngsters this weekend, but Leo hinted the number might reach 1 million. 'It's a bit messed up, but this is what is nice about the Jubilee,' said Chloe Jobbour, a 19-year-old Lebanese Catholic who was in Rome with a group of more than 200 young members of the Community of the Beatitudes, a France-based charismatic group. She said, for example, it had taken two hours to get dinner Friday night, as the KFC was overwhelmed by orders. The Salesian school that offered her group housing is an hour away by bus. But Jobbour, like many here this week, didn't mind the discomfort: It's all part of the experience. 'I don't expect it to be better than that. I expected it this way,' she said, as members of her group gathered on church steps near the Vatican to sing and pray before heading out to Tor Vergata. There was already one tragedy before the vigil began: The Vatican confirmed that an Egyptian 18-year-old, identified as Pascale Rafic, had died while on the pilgrimage. Leo met Saturday with the group she was traveling with and extended his condolences to her family. The weather has largely cooperated: While Italian civil protection crews had prepared for temperatures that could have reached 34C (93F) or higher this week, the mercury hasn't surpassed 30C (85F) and isn't expected to. Romans inconvenienced, but tolerant Those Romans who didn't flee the onslaught have been inconvenienced by the additional hordes on the city's notoriously insufficient public transport system. Residents are sharing social media posts of outbursts by Romans angered by kids flooding subway platforms and crowding bus stops that have complicated their commutes to work. But other Romans have welcomed the enthusiasm the youngsters have brought. Premier Giorgia Meloni offered a video welcome, marveling at the 'extraordinary festival of faith, joy and hope' that the young people had brought to the Eternal City. 'I think it's marvelous,' said Rome hairdresser Rina Verdone, who lives near the Tor Vergata field and woke up Saturday to find a gaggle of police congregating outside her home as part of the massive, 4,000-strong operation mounted to keep the peace. 'You think the faith, the religion is in difficulty, but this is proof that it's not so.' Verdone had already made plans to take an alternate route home Saturday afternoon, that would require an extra kilometer (half-mile) walk, because she feared the 'invasion' of kids in her neighborhood would disrupt her usual bus route. But she said she was more than happy to make the sacrifice. 'You think of invasion as something negative. But this is a positive invasion,' she said. ___
The Hill
7 minutes ago
- The Hill
Trump says he hasn't been asked to pardon Maxwell, Santos, likely won't pardon Diddy
President Trump said he hasn't been asked to pardon disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein's longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell or former Rep. Geroge Santos (R-N.Y.), adding that he likely would not give a pardon to rapper Sean 'Diddy' Combs. The president was asked about the three individuals serving prison sentences in a Newsmax interview that aired on Friday. 'They have talked to me about Sean, but they haven't talked to me about the two,' he told host Rob Finnerty. When asked if he would grant clemency for Maxwell — who is serving a 20-year prison sentence — in exchange for her testimony, Trump replied, 'I'm allowed to do it. But nobody's asked me to do it.' 'I know nothing about it. I don't know anything about the case, but I know I have the right to do it,' the president continued. 'I have the right to give pardons. I've given pardons to people before, but nobody's even asked me to do it.' The president has previously said he hadn't thought about a pardon for Maxwell, who recently met with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche as the administration faces increasing pressure to release more information from the Epstein files. An attorney for the convicted sex offender also has said he hasn't talked to Trump about a potential pardon. The Justice Department earlier last month released a memo concluding Epstein, a convicted sex offender, died by suicide and did not keep a client list, leading to massive outrage from within the Republican Party. Meanwhile, Trump also didn't rule out a pardon for Santos, who surrendered for a 7-year sentence last week after pleading guilty to federal wire fraud and identity theft charges. The president said, 'He lied like hell.' 'And I didn't know him, but he was 100 percent for Trump,' he continued, adding that 'his vote was solid' when he was in Congress. The president also said that no one has talked to him about a pardon for the former GOP lawmaker, who was expelled from the House in 2023. Santos has said he will be seeking clemency from Trump. 'You know, you could blame the other side for not checking him out,' Trump told Finnerty. 'He didn't do all those things that he said… you could say the media missed it. Everybody missed it. They found out about this stuff after the election was won.' On if he would consider a pardon for Combs, who was acquitted last month of sex trafficking and racketeering and convicted of lesser prostitution-related offenses, Trump said Combs is 'half innocent.' He cited though that the rapper was friendly to him before his political career and then didn't support him when he ran for president. 'I was very friendly with him. I got along with him great, and he seemed like a nice guy. I didn't know him well. But when I ran for office, he was very hostile,' Trump told Newsmax 'And it's hard, you know? I'm like you, we're human beings, right? And we don't like to have things cloud our judgment, right?' 'But when you knew someone and you were fine and then you run for office and he made some terrible statements, so I don't know, it's more difficult,' the president added. 'It makes it more — I'm being honest — it makes it more difficult to do.' When asked if it's more likely that he would not grant Combs clemency, Trump replied, 'I would say so.' when pressed on a pardon for him.
San Francisco Chronicle
7 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Protesters in Bangkok demand resignation of court-suspended prime minister following deadly conflict
BANGKOK (AP) — Protesters rallied Saturday in the Thai capital to demand the resignation of court-suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and in support of the armed forces following a violent border dispute with Cambodia that killed more than three dozen people and displaced over 260,000. Gathered at Bangkok's Victory Monument despite soaring temperatures, many sang patriotic songs and listened to speeches denouncing Paetongtarn and her father , former leader Thaksin Shinawatra, and voiced their backing of the country's army, which has always retained real power in the Southeast Asian country. Police said there were about two thousand protesters by mid-afternoon, though more were expected to join as the temperature cooled. Some locals accuse Paetongtarn and her family of allowing the conflict, which stretches back deacdes with both sides claiming pocket of lands near the shared borders, to escalate due to their close tied with Cambodian leader Hun Sen. A court suspened the prime minster last month after Hun Sen leaked a phone call in which she she called him 'uncle" and appeared to denigrate a Thai general, angering many. The most recent clashes ended with an uneasy Malaysian-brokered ceasefire on July 29. 'Ung Ing, you need to leave,' said one well-known conservative columnist and protester, Jittakorn Bussaba, using Paetongtarn 's nickname.'Because there's blood on your hands. People have died because of you,' he said from the stage to general applause. 'I'm here to help oust the government and protect Thai sovereignty and to support the soldiers,' said 75-year-old Kittiwat, who only gave one name. 'Ung Ing has damaged the country. Everyone needs to help out," said 58-year-old Ammorn Khunthong. "Thaksin and his family should not run or command this country anymore,' she said. There were many familiar faces from a conservative, pro-royalist group once known as Yellow Shirts, longtime foes of Paetongtarn's father, who was toppled in a military coup in 2006. Thaksin, a billionaire tycoon, entered politics by founding his own political party and buying the loyalty of local political bosses nationwide. He was often accused of bullying critics and not separating his business dealings from those of the government. Yellow Shirts rallies had also helped oust the elected government of Thaksin's sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, in a 2014 coup. The army in Thailand plays a major role in politics and has staged 13 successful coups since Thailand became a constitutional monarchy in 1932, most recently just 11 years ago.
