Free Republic

SANTA FE, NM – An executive order signed today by President Trump instructing the Department of the Interior to review designations of national monuments could hinder a proposed land exchange between the New Mexico State Land Office (SLO) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) that would consolidate state and federal holdings within the Río Grande del Norte National Monument, creating one of the most preeminent recreational spots in the United States. Trump’s order instructs Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to examine designations dating back to 1996 to determine whether they were within the scope of a century-old law that allows...

ST. GEORGE – Gov. Brian Sandoval signed Assembly Bill 227 into Nevada law Tuesday, approving the creation of the Nevada Land Management Task Force. The signing of AB 227 makes Nevada the fifth state to look into the movement initiated by Utah lawmakers that urges the federal government to transfer management of public lands over to state control. In a press release issued by the American Lands Council, Nevada Assemblyman John Ellison, the primary sponsor of AB 227, said, “Gov. Sandoval and our state legislature have taken the first step in fulfilling our responsibility to our children and for the...

One of the holy grails of the Palestinian movement is the "right of return," and it is one that always haunts any peace agreement. Alongside it is one of the most vilified pieces of Israeli legislation, the Absentee Property Law, which has provided more grist for the academic mill of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict than anything else. Even after 60 years of conflict, there is very little understanding by Palestinians or others of either the concept of "return" or that of absentee property - which together represent an idea and the thing to which people might return. It is important to...

<p>When families face a financial crisis like a layoff or pay cut, they take steps to live within their means by eliminating items like expanded cable television service, cell phones, restaurant dining and expensive trips to the mall. Families in tough times also question whether they really need that extra car, boat or RV. This is "kitchen-table economics," and state government needs to apply it.</p>

Westly Environmental Plan Protects California from Bush Rollbacks; Westly Plan Promotes Clean Air, Takes on Big Oil and Protects Coastline SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 5, 2004--California State Controller and new State Lands Commission Chair Steve Westly today announced a comprehensive environmental agenda for 2004 designed to help protect California from the Bush Administration's rollback of environmental protections. In his fiscal year 2005 budget proposal, President Bush requested a 7 percent cut at the Environmental Protection Agency and cuts the National Ocean Service by 35 percent. He has already decimated enforcement at the EPA, relaxed air pollution rules and opened our public...

Governor speeds up open-space land deals PRE-ELECTION RUSH TO BUY WORRIES SOME, PLEASES OTHERSLess than two weeks before the election that could end his political career, Gov. Gray Davis is rushing to approve nearly $300 million in deals for the state to buy land from developers who have given him more than $160,000 in political contributions.The governor's office praises the purchases as rare opportunities to preserve wetlands, a sprawling ranch and redwoods. And some environmentalists would like to see the deals sealed before a possible change in administrations.Yet critics question whether the price for taxpayers is too high -- Davis...