BOISE, ID – Idaho U.S. Rep. Russ Fulcher said he is convening meetings statewide to explore transferring management and ownership of the Gem State’s vast federal public lands to state and local governments.

The Republican congressman on Monday sent a letter to Idaho statewide elected officials, legislators, and county commissioners, calling the eventual shift to local control of the land “imminent.”

“If this issue is left unaddressed, we will have a real problem on our hands that will likely put unsustainable pressure on local property taxes,” Fulcher wrote.

Nearly two-thirds of Idaho’s landmass is federally owned and managed. Fulcher wrote that the “extensive federal government footprint in our state poses significant challenges to our autonomy in issuing leases for timber, grazing, and mining.”

He also pointed to a lack of support from non-Western states for congressional funding of programs for local governments to offset the lost property tax revenue of federal lands, such as Payments in Lieu of Taxes, PILT, or Secure Rural Schools, SRS.

Fulcher said he recognized the value of lands being publicly accessible, but said the federal government hadn’t been properly managing them.

A Conservation Voters of Idaho poll conducted in July found 96% of Idaho registered voters believe public lands should remain in public hands.

Concerns that transfer of Idaho public lands would take them out of the public’s hands  

Those who oppose a transfer of ownership of federal lands question if access would remain open to the public.

“Over the history of the state of Idaho, about a third of Idaho’s state endowment lands have been sold off,” said John Robison, Idaho Conservation League public lands and wildlife director.

Robison underscored the recent sale of state lands near the Teton mountains in eastern Idaho, which had been leased for grazing by a local rancher through 2032, the Idaho Capital Sun previously reported.

State endowment land is typically publicly accessible but is required to be used to generate the most revenue possible for its beneficiaries, which include public schools.

Fellow Idaho Republican Congressman Mike Simpson couldn’t be reached for comment on this story, but told the Idaho Press in May that a past analysis on the cost for the state to manage all of its federal lands found it wasn’t very feasible.

“The Legislature looked at that at that time and said, ‘Wow, we can’t afford that,’” Simpson said. “It would come at a huge cost to the state of Idaho.”

Simpson co-sponsored bipartisan legislation that would prohibit large parcels of federal land from sales or transfers, with some narrow exemptions.

Simpson’s bill was introduced amid a proposal led by U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, to sell thousands of acres of public federal lands. Fulcher voted in favor of the amendment to approve the sale.

Conservationists, Fulcher agree federal land management needs improvement 

Robison agreed with Fulcher’s assertion that federal land managers have not done enough to reduce wildfire risk.

“Last year, federal land mismanagement was a major factor in nearly one million acres of our beautiful Idaho going up in flames, a level of devastation that puts significant financial strain on our local economies,” Fulcher wrote.

Idaho recently signed a new agreement with the U.S. Forest Service to partner with the federal agency to ramp up management and targeted logging activity in Idaho national forests. 

Robison agreed there was more to be done to mitigate wildfire risk in Idaho’s forests.

“It is true that agencies that manage American public lands on our behalf are on a starvation diet,” Robison said. “They are underfunded, they are understaffed, and our public lands are suffering as a result. Notably, it is Congress that holds the power of the purse to properly fund these agencies. “

Gov. Brad Little has in the past bemoaned federal management of public lands, but said recently he is more satisfied with what’s being done under the current presidential administration.

Little’s office could not be reached for comment.

This story first appeared on Idaho Capital Sun.