WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S. (AZ-04) released the following statement after participating in a House Natural Resources Subcommittee hearing where he questioned witnesses from the three major federal agencies including Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Director, Kornze, on the president’s 2017 budget:
Secures Promise For Updated Inventory of Disposable BLM Lands
Today, Congressman Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S. (AZ-04) released the following statement after participating in a House Natural Resources Subcommittee hearing where he questioned witnesses from the three major federal agencies including Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Director, Kornze, on the president’s 2017 budget:
“It is outrageous and shameful that the Bureau of Land Management continues to request nearly $100 million annually for new federal land acquisitions in order to lock up more of the American people’s land. Only about 18 percent of land is privately held in Arizona and it’s even worse in Nevada. The federal government already owns more than 650 million acres and western states are sick of big government land grabs that limit economic development. Washington bureaucrats fail to understand that when more land is locked up by the federal government, real people suffer and opportunities for future prosperity are reduced. For every acre of land declared public, there is an acre of private land lost.
“It’s been nearly 20 years since the BLM provided Congress with a detailed list of federal lands potentially available for disposal. And that 1997 report was authored only because of direction from Congress. I am all about consolidating checkerboards, increasing access and better utilizing federal lands. But simply requesting more money to add more federal land to the government rolls without identifying lands that aren’t being used properly doesn’t cut it. I shouldn’t have to ask BLM Director Kornze to provide a detailed inventory of lands eligible for disposable, but since I did, I will hold him to his promise and ensure he complies with this reasonable request.”
Click on the picture above to watch Congressman Gosar question BLM Director Kornze at today's subcommittee hearing.
