Montana lawmaker presents bill transferring federal land management to state

The contentious issue of transferring management of federal lands to the state got its first airing at the 2015 Legislature Monday, as a Republican senator presented her bill to prevent the state from selling any transferred land. Sen. Jennifer Fielder of Thompson Falls, a leading proponent of the transfer, said her Senate Bill 215 counters the argument from opponents that the transfer would lead to a sell-off of federal public lands. “There is no question in my mind that the public lands would remain public,” she told the Senate Natural Resources Committee. “This would put into law a prohibition to sell (these lands).” Fielder also said SB215 is the first of three bills she plans to offer on the federal lands debate – including one creating a task force to study the possible transfer of federal land management to the state. Yet while Fielder said SB215 should placate opponents claiming the transfer would lead to a public land sell-off. But conservation groups – and the Bullock administration – still opposed her bill Monday...more