Rep. Jason Chaffetz Resigns from Congress; Public Land Transfers Dead. . . For Now
OutdoorHub Reporters 05.18.17
Public lands advocates can chalk up another ‘W’ in the victory column after bill HR 1484 has been slain.
The bill, introduced by Rep. Mark Amodei, would have transferred millions of acres of Federal land to Nevada in a series of phases, something the majority of people don’t think is a good idea, Amodei told the Reno Gazette-Journal.
According to RGJ, the first phase covered nearly 7.3 million acres, with about half within a checkerboard pattern that traverses the state from Sparks to Wendover. Other Phase One land included property the Bureau of Land Management has already “designated for disposal.”
There was a hearing last November to talk about the bill, but discussions came to a halt when the Congressional session ended in December.
The few backers the bill had hoped to eventually revive the issue, but widespread backlash spoke volumes, and the bill died.
If this sounds familiar, you might recall the decision by one Jason Chaffetz of Utah to withdraw a bill aiming to sell off 3 million acres of public land.
“People are being vigilant, and any attempts to divest our public lands is going to be met with great ire,” says Land Tawney, president and CEO of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers. “With what happened to Mr. Chaffetz — the clash that he had there was unprecedented. This issue has become toxic. If you’re going to push this forward, there’s an awareness around the issue that I don’t think has been seen in the past. Public lands hunters and anglers are heartened by Congressman Amodei’s apparent awakening to a fact most of us have known all along.”
This victory comes after Jason Chaffets says he will resign from Congress on June 30.
Jason Chaffetz says he will resign from Congress on June 30, raising questions about probe of Trump’s Russia ties https://t.co/GwfjaKkq6I pic.twitter.com/3UzI0ZkAYv
— Yahoo News (@YahooNews) May 18, 2017
