Posted on 02/23/2016 12:44:52 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
Of all the controversies associated with Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, his position on federally owned land tends to attract less attention.
But the issue of public land ownership is important to Nevadans, where federal government agencies manage and control around 85 percent of state land.
And it's partially why Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is slamming Trump on the issue in a campaign ad airing just days before the Nevada Republican presidential caucus on Feb. 23.
"Eighty-five percent of Nevada is owned and regulated by the federal government," says Cruz in the ad. "And Donald Trump wants to keep big government in charge. That's ridiculous."
The ad has aired dozens of times in Reno through the lead up to Nevada's caucus, according to Political TV Ad Archive. We thought Cruz's claim merited fact-checking, because public lands management is a critical issue with Nevada voters.
An on-screen graphic refers to a January interview with Field & Stream magazine, where Trump said he would be hesitant to give federal land over to state and local governments.
"I don't like the idea, because I want to keep the lands great, and you don't know what the state is going to do," he told an interviewer. "I mean, are they going to sell if they get into a little bit of trouble?"
Trump's campaign offered a slightly more detailed explanation of his proposed policy in an answer to a candidate questionnaire, but said the bigger issue was land management and not transfer of ownership.
"The issue is not that so much of the state is public land; it is how that land is managed," the campaign wrote, promising to cut "needless bureaucratic red tape."
The Trump campaign didn't return emails seeking comment.
Cruz, on the other hand, takes a more libertarian stance on public land issues and said the amount of land owned by the federal government is "unacceptable."
"I believe we should transfer as much federal land as possible back to the states and ideally back to the people," he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal in December.
Cruz fought with the Bureau of Land Management over the agency's efforts to "claim 90,000 acres of disputed land near Texas's Red River," and for a time supported Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy's standoff with the federal government over his unpaid grazing fees.
And many of the Texas senator's Nevada supporters pushed for a failed bill in the state Legislature that "would lay claim to almost all federally managed public lands and water rights in the state."
It's worth noting that Nevada's state constitution expressly gives up the state's rights to all "unappropriated public lands" to the federal government, which is why it's worth quibbling with candidates like Cruz and Rubio promise to "return" control to its citizens - who have never held a claim to the federally owned land in the past 151 years of Nevada statehood.
Our ruling
Cruz says that Trump wants to keep "big government" in charge of Nevada's public lands.
Trump has answered questions on public land management twice. He has not advocated for transferring ownership, but he has focused on cutting bureaucratic red tape. Cruz exaggerates Trump's position slightly by saying Trump favors "big" government.
We rate the ad's statement Mostly True.
The Founders fear was that a foreigner overtake the US from within. So tell me, will Cruz hand America to Canada? LOLOL!!!
We’ll see. I hope it works.
And Ted did fight for Texas and for the country in the Senate.
Please don’t even try to deny that.
Not in Canada they’re not. Cruz was born in Canada and Canadian laws apply to people in Canada. Why do you think he had to formally renounce his Canadian citizenship in 2014 if Canadian laws had no bearing on his situation? He was born a Canadian citizen because he was born in Canada and the applicable Canadian law said people born in Canada are Canadian citizens with certain exceptions for diplomats, military, etc.
I notice that you have nothing to say about Reid and the Nevada desert. This thread is about Trump being comfortable with the Fed owning state land.
"I'm probably the only billionaire's son more comfortable in a D-10 Cat than a golf cart."
Awww! President Elitist! Isn't that cute!
Only 100 year old amendments. Back out the income tax and direct election of Senators and were might be on the road to having a Republic again.
What Canada says is irrelevant. What do OUR laws say? Get it?
Trump said today that the attack on his stand with public lands was a total surprise. To the roar of the crowd he said that public lands should be in the hands of the states.
He changed AGAIN?! Why isn’t he dizzy?
But its the other guy who lies.
Cruz was born a Canadian citizen because he was born in Canada, not in the USA. Canadian law applies in Canada. Our laws say NBC, which Cruz is arguably not. I am not sure it is possible to be a natural born citizen of two countries at the same time. Cruz is undoubtedly NBC Canadian, he renounced that status in 2014. I am not voting for Cruz for president in 2016 because I think he is unqualified. I am not voting for Cruz for the Senate in 2018 because he kept the fact he was still a Canadian citizen in 2012 hidden from Texans. You vote however you want.
Silly! Trump is EVOLVING. ;-)
The first step in that might be to elect officials who will keep their promises,
like Ted Cruz.
************
The first step is a State issue as I read it and not a Federal issue. The state needs
to come together and file with the Federal Gov’t for a change in the documents involved which
the state agreed to. Once they file to get the land back then it rest on the Feds to take action.
I’m not a legal expert by any means and could well be wrong.
You vote however you want.
I intend to.
I’m not too sure he had to deal with too many federal government regulations and oversight at the Solicitor general’s office. As for his private practice, was he the CEO?
And you don’t understand that if Canadian law did not apply, Cruz would not have had to renounce his Canadian citizenship as he did in 2014. Canadian law did apply to him, even Cruz understood that.
They are up-to-date on all reality tv ‘peoples’!! Know what ‘so and so’s’ last twitter tweet is, all the celebrity news but what is essential or really affects their lives.....seem not to care.
Saw where a student from LU is posting on here. Wonder if there are some from Hillsdale. Would hope so.
Perhaps in the same place the Trumpians found the right to build the wall along the southern border and have Mexico pay for it.
Trump was recorded asserting that the states can’t be trusted to manage the land properly.
As if BLM is preventing YUGE forest fires...
Yes, Trump possesses the temperate mouth. He always chooses his words wisely and considerately.
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