Land Ordinances Are Another Tool

By Karen Schumacher

County Commissioners hold more authority than they realize.  Our Republic was built on a foundation of strength at a local level, where citizens can be engaged with those they elect to represent them.  From that, citizens also have the responsibility for holding those elected officials to account for their actions.

As already known, the federal government far exceeds its enumerated powers assigned by the Constitution.  The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is just one example of an infringement of the Constitution.  Now, the BLM is attempting to exercise that blatant lack of authority in Idaho by cutting backroom deals with a corporation for money to build unwanted wind turbines on land that is protected by law for public use.  The deal has a real pretentious name, the Lava Ridge Wind Project.

All “public” land “managed” by the federal government lies in counties within a state.  In the case of Lava Ridge, this project lies within Jerome, Lincoln, and Minidoka counties.  Without going into the ongoing donnybrook about the federal government not “owning” public land that should be turned over to the states, or how the land is significantly mismanaged, or how the land has been incrementally taken away from public use, the focus should really be on the fact that whatever land is defined as public land, it sits in a state county.

Along with Coordination, commissioners also have other available tools at their disposal to ban Lava Ridge.  County commissioners have the authority to create and pass laws under local ordinances.  In one Idaho county, Washington, the commissioners appropriately took note of the fact that public land sat in their county and, using federal law, chose to create ordinances that strongly reflect their authority to govern that land.

Ordinance 88 defined that “the ranchers own the grass and the water rights on their allotments in Washington County”  and “with any other private property rights, these rights on split estate land administered by the Federal Government are protected in the constitution.”  The Organic Act of 1897 ensured the “pasturing of livestock on public lands” would not be interfered with.  The Lava Ridge project significantly interferes with grazing allotments.

The Ordinance also references the Taylor Grazing Act that protects the grazing rights of ranchers, and is strengthened by Idaho Code 25-903 that anyone interfering with these rights is guilty of a misdemeanor.  Another federal law, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) that protects the public’s right to use the land, is referenced.  It also gives the Washington county Sheriff the authority to protect these rights and a court to impose fines and other punishments to those who violate them.

In Ordinance 87, the requirement for the federal government to Coordinate with the local authority is mentioned right off the bat.  Also, mentioned again is the Organic Act of 1897 that “provides for State and Local Jurisdiction of Federal Lands”.  Specifically, #6 of the Organic Act states, “the intent and meaning of this provision being that the State wherein any such reservation is situated shall not, by reason of the establishment thereof, lose its jurisdiction, nor the inhabitants thereof their rights and privileges as citizens”.  That means the county holds the jurisdiction over the land, not the BLM.  But the BLM doesn’t want you to know this.  Any BLM activity that interferes with the rights and privileges of citizens within a county must be held accountable to the local jurisdictional authority.

The Ordinance also states, “The Sheriff has the authority under this ordinance”, which again means jurisdictional authority.  “Federal law enforcement officers operate under the Sheriff’s authority and shall not enforce any laws upon
the citizens of the county without permission of the Sheriff.”  This is true for other actions by federal authorities, the permission of the local Sheriff is required.

But the federal government has bullied and intimidated local governments and citizens into believing it holds supreme authority.  It is time that stops.  The federal government has been abusing its own laws, often against citizens.

There are other documents that support these Ordinances.  The BLM Mitigation Handbook states, “If siting compensatory mitigation on split estate lands, the BLM will ensure that the willing landowner consents…” (page 2-18).  Has any rancher consented to the Lava Ridge DEIS mitigation measures?  The BLM cannot move forward with this project without their consent.

The BLM is exploiting land for profit while abusing the lawful rights of those who use the land.  It is time that the protection of these rights is exercised by county officials, and citizens of these counties should contact their respective commissioners and ask that these ordinances are put into place.  It is also time that citizens, and local officials, stop being intimidated by the federal government and use the laws that have been established for their protection.

The comment period on the Lava Ridge project ended April 20, but there is no reason to let that deter anyone from commenting.  Voices still need to be heard.  Let the BLM know that it is expected that they follow the law, first by mandate that they Coordinate with the local county officials, and second, that this project cannot go forward until the law is followed.