EXHIBITS
The Sagebrush Rebellion: America's Longest War: The True Cost
The True Cost
The financial side of the Sagebrush Rebellion is perhaps the most heated, debated, and broad topic. There are, simply put, two sides to this argument. One side believes that the states could afford the cost of managing all the public lands that the BLM currently manages, and the other side doesn’t. There is no in between on this issue, but there are two very different realities.
The USU Study
The financial documents (Image 1) might show that the states have the ability to maintain the lands, but there are also lots of extra added costs not fully taken into account or shown. For example, the BLM, through the NFMA, is to give back 25% of its profits to the states for road and school management within the national forest.
This study, done by Utah State University, shows that the states can afford to take over and afford the cost of managing the public lands, but these figures were based on assumptions about the cost of mineral values, extraction costs, and management of wildlife resources, preservation, and regrowth. The true figures would show that the states would actually go into debt if they were to obtain all the public lands.[1]
Private Means More Money
Senator Orrin Hatch said: ““My bill is designed to return control of our destiny to the people of Utah by transferring title to the unappropriated public lands to the state capitol, and from there to the county authorities, and ultimately to private citizens.” But it is not inevitable, IN many states the constitution requires state lands to be managed for maximum return...but those mechanisms could be developed over time at a considerable expense.”[1]
Even though private citizens and companies could buy the land, they would have few stipulations regarding its management because of the poorly written state constitutions. They might provide the revenue needed for managing the lands, but these private groups could damage the land and inhibit the land use.
Burdens of the Public Lands
“States that took over the public lands would find themselves pinched between reduced revenues, as federal payments in lieu of taxes were halted- and increased costs- as they took over the burden of management. State officials would have the power to raise taxes or boost grazing fees to meet the costs of management.”[2]
The states would have to raise prices to manage all the lands, which would hurt the very people who were in such strong favor of the Sagebrush Rebellion. There would be a few people who would benefit from a financial aspect, one group being miners. Yet local ranchers and citizens would have limited access and more costs in place to use the public lands.
There would also be other harms to wildlife and recreation activities. As states’ need for more profit would increase, less attention would be paid to the preservation of habitat and resources for wildlife. Thus, hunting and fishing would be less available and costs could be put in place for other recreations like 4-wheeling, trail hiking etc. Ultimately this would defeat the purpose for which most citizens supported the Sagebrush Rebellion in the first place.
[1] Dick Carter, “The Public Lands versus the Sagebrush Rebellion Volume 3,” Utah Wilderness Association (Salt Lake City, UT).
[2] Maitland Sharpe, “The Sagebrush Rebellion,” Outdoor America September 1980 pg. 26.
[3] Ibid
Other important resources not directly mentioned above:
[4] Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library, Special Collections and Archives, Mss 200 Box 1 Folder 11 "Is this the rebels dream"
[5] Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library, Special Collections, and Archives, Accession No. 2005-048, Accession Name- Sagebrush, Accession date- 6/2/2004. Donor - Short Brant. C. "The Sagebrush Ripoff" Ted Trueblood. Field and Stream, March 1985.
[6]Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library, Special Collections, and Archives, Accession No. 2005-048, Accession Name- Sagebrush, Accession date- 6/2/2004. Donor - Short Brant. C. Folder Sagebrush Rebellion (ID, MT). "There's More Rhetoric than Reality In the West's 'Sagebrush Rebellion'" by Dick Kirschten National Journal- Environment Report - 1979-11-17