FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JANUARY 11, 2017
DENVER—The Center for Western Priorities today released a reporter brief on public lands issues in 2017 state legislative sessions across the West.
“As lawmakers get to work, we thought it was important to give reporters a bird’s-eye view of what’s happening across the region,” said Greg Zimmerman, deputy director at the Center for Western Priorities. “From state to state, we see wildly different priorities and concerns in this legislative cycle.”
Available online and as a PDF, the briefing includes the big questions that elected officials in eight Western states will tackle as they begin their work this year. Among them:
Utah: Will the governor and attorney general bankroll a $14 million lawsuit against the federal government?
Montana: Will the legislature partner with the governor to form an Office of Outdoor Recreation?
New Mexico: Will citizens win back access to their rivers and streams?
Idaho: Will legislators repeal a misguided and frivolous county supremacy law?
Nevada: What can a pro-public lands majority accomplish?
Colorado: Will legislators build on their Public Lands Day success?
Arizona: Will the governor veto even more failed land seizure bills?
Wyoming: Will hunters, anglers, and county leaders block a land seizure amendment to the state constitution?
The brief’s co-author, Advocacy Director Jesse Prentice-Dunn, said, “Western state leaders have an opportunity to lead on public lands issues in 2017. It’s now clear that supporting the extremist land seizure agenda is a political third rail in the West, so legislators can win support across the political spectrum by passing strong pro-public lands bills this year.”
The Center for Western Priorities also looks at state legislatures in the latest episode of Go West, Young Podcast, which includes a discussion with Clayton Elliott of Montana Conservation Voters, and Jessica Goad of Conservation Colorado.