Transfer of federal lands.

2015
STATE OF WYOMING
15LSO-0549
ENGROSSED
3.1

HOUSE BILL

NO.

HB0209

Transfer of federal lands.

Sponsored by:
Representative(s) Miller, Brown, Clem, Greear, Halverson, Kroeker and Loucks and Senator(s) Bebout, Cooper, Driskill, Hicks and Meier

A BILL

for

AN ACT relating to public lands; requiring transfer of public lands; specifying distribution of proceeds from sale of public lands; creating a joint select committee on the transfer of public lands; providing duties of the committee; providing definitions; providing legislative findings; providing an appropriation; and providing for an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

Section 1
.

W.S. 36
‑
12
‑
201 and
36
‑
12
‑
202

are
created to read:

ARTICLE 2
TRANSFER OF FEDERAL PUBLIC LANDS

36
‑
12
‑
201
.

Definitions

(a)

As used in this article:

(
i
)

"Governmental entity" means any federal, state, local or other governmental unit, subdivision, agency, department or instrumentality thereof;

(ii)

"Net proceeds" means the proceeds from the sale of public lands, after subtracting expenses incident to the sale of the public lands;

(iii)

"Public lands" means lands within the exterior boundaries of Wyoming, except:

(A)

Lands to which title is held by a person who is not a governmental entity;

(B)

Lands owned or held in trust by the state, a political subdivision of the state or an independent entity;

(C)

Lands reserved for use by the state system of public education or a state institution of higher education;

(D)

School and institutional trust lands;

(E)

The following national parks
and other areas
:

(I)

Yellowsto
ne National Park;

(II)

Grand Teton National Park;

(III)

John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway;

(IV)

Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area;

(V)

Devils Tower National Monument;

(VI)

Fort Laramie National Historic Site; and

(VII)

Fossil Butte National Monument.

(F)

Any other l
ands within the exterior boundaries of
Wyoming as of January 1, 2015
, that are managed by the United States
as a national park, designated national monument or wilderness area designated under the national wilderness preservation system;

(G)

Real property or tangible
personal property owned by the
United States if the propert
y is within the boundaries of a
municipality;

(H)

Any lands managed or owned by
any branch of the United States
military or the United
States department of energy; or

(J)

Lands, including water rig
hts, belonging to an Indian or Indian tribe, band
or community that
is held in trust by the United
States or is subject to
a restriction
against alienation imposed by
the United States.

36
‑
12
‑
202
.

Transfer of public lands.

(a)

On or before December 31, 201
7
, the United States shall:

(
i
)

Extinguish
title to all public lands; and

(ii)

Transfer title to public lands to the state of W
yoming.

(b)

If the state subsequently trans
fers title to any public lands
received under
subsection (a
) of
this section, the state shall:

(
i
)

Retain five percent
(5%)
of the n
et proceeds the state receives
f
rom the transfer of title; and

(ii)

Transfer ninety
‑
five percent
(95%) of the net proceeds the state
receives from the transfer
of title to the United States.

(c)

I
n accordance with the W
yoming state
c
onstitution, the
amount the state retains in accordance
with
paragraph
(b
)(
i
) of this
section
shall
be deposited into the permanent common school
account within the permanent land fund.

Section 2.

(a)

The
re is created a
joint select committee on the transfer of public lands, with members as follows:

(
i
)

The speaker of the house of repre
sentatives shall appoint not more than three (3)
members from
the majority party and not less than one

(1) member from the minority party
of the house of representatives; and

(ii)

The president of
the senate shall appoint not more than three (3)
members
from

the majority party and not less than one (1) member from the minority party
of the senate.

(b)

The committee shall choose its chair or
cochairs
from among its membership.

(c)

The committee shall, with guidance from other interested parties and stakeholders, prepare proposed legislation:

(
i
)

Creating a public lands commission assigned with:

(A)

Administering the transfer of title of public lands to the state under W.S. 36
‑
12
‑
202
; and

(B)

Addressing the management of public lands and the management of multiple uses of public lands
and recognizing all exi
s
ting rights.

(ii)

Establishing actions that
shall be taken to secure, preserve
and protect the state's rights and
benefits related to the United
States' duty to have extinguished title to public lands under
W.S. 36
‑
12
‑
202
in the event that the U
nited States does not meet the
requirements of
W.S. 36
‑
12
‑
202
;

(iii)

Recommending
any necessary modi
fications to the definition of
"public lands"
as
provided in
W.S. 36
‑
12
‑
201
(
a)(iii)
;

(iv)

Making
a determination
of, or creating a process for determining, interests, rights or uses related to:

(A)

Easements;

(
B)

Geothermal resources;

(
C)

Grazing;

(
D)

Mining;

(E)

Natural gas;

(F)

Oil and other fossil fuels;

(
G)

Recreation;

(H)

Rights of entry;

(J)

Special uses;

(K)

Timber;

(M)

Water;

(N)

Hunting and fishing; or

(O
)

Other natural resources or other resources
.

(v)

Determining what constitutes
"expenses incident to the sale of public lands"
as provided in th
e definition of "net proceeds"
under
W.S. 36
‑
12
‑
201
(
a)(ii).

(d)

The joint select committee o
n the transfer of public lands
shall also study and determine whether to prepar
e proposed legislation related to:

(
i
)

Establishing a
n administrative process for:

(A)

The United States to ext
inguish title to public lands;

(
B)

The state to receive title to public lan
ds from the United
States; or

(C)

The state to transfer titl
e to any public lands the state
receives in accordance with
W.S. 36
‑
12
‑
202
.

(ii)

Establishing a prioritized lis
t of management actions for the
state and the political subdivis
ions of the state to perform on public lands:

(A
)

Before and after the United States extinguishes title to

public lands under
W.S. 36
‑
12
‑
202
; and

(B)

To preserve and p
romote the state's interest in:

(I)

Prote
cting public health and safety;

(
II)

Preventing catastroph
ic wildfire and forest insect infestation;

(III
)

Preserving watersheds;

(
IV)

Preserving and enhancing energy an
d the production of
minerals;

(
V)

Preserving and i
mproving range conditions;

(VI)

Increasing plant diversity
and reducing invasive weeds on
range and woodland portions of the public l
ands; and

(VII)

Providing for no net loss of public access for hunting and fishing and other outdoor recreational purposes.

(iii)

Establishing procedures a
nd requirements for subjecting
publ
ic lands to property taxation;

(iv)

Establishing other requirement
s related to national forests, national recreation areas
or other pu
blic lands administered by the
United States;
and

(v)

Addressing the indemnification
of a political subdivision of
the state for actions taken in furtherance of
W.S. 36
‑
12
‑
202
.

(e)

The joint select committee o
n the transfer of public lands
also may study any other issue related to public
lands as
recommended

by the
governor
.

(f)

The joint select committee o
n the transfer of public lands shall:

(
i
)

Make preliminary reports o
n the study and preparation of
proposed legislation required under this section to the legislature
by June 30, 201
6

and
by October 31, 201
6
; and

(ii)

Deliver a final report contain
ing findings, recommendations
and proposed legislation to the legislature
not later than January 2, 201
7
.

(g)

The select committee shall be staffed by the legislative service office. The office of state lands and investments and the attorney general shall serve in an advisory capacity to the task force and shall provide technical and other relevant information as requested.

(h)

M
embers of the
joint select committee on the
transfer of public lands
shall be paid salary, per diem and mileage as provided in W.S. 28
‑
5
‑
101 for their official duties as members of the select committee.

Section 3.

(a)

The legislature finds that federal funding and the resulting capacity for responsible management of federal public lands are in serious jeopardy while critical threats such as beetle kills, invasive species, watershed degradation, access restrictions and catastrophic wildfires continue to escalate.

(b)

The legislature further finds that the enabling
act
creating the state of Wyoming includes specific
provisions for the disposal of public lands and guarantees admittance into the union on equal footing with all other states. Wyoming, like other western states, has not received the full benefit of the provisions of the enabling act, related to the disposal of lands from the federal government. More specifically, section 7 of the act of admission requires "Five percent of the proceeds of the sales of public lands lying within said state ....
shall
be paid to the said state ....
for
the support of the common schools within said state.
"

Sec
tion 4
.

There is appropriated
twenty
‑
five
thousand dollars ($
2
5
,000.00) from the general fund to the legislative service office. This appropriation shall be for the period beginning with the effective date of this act and ending June 30, 201
7
. This appropriation shall only be expended for payment of salary, per diem and mileage for legislative select committee members.

Section
5
.

This act is effective immediately upon completion of all acts necessary for a bill to become law as provided by Article 4, Section 8 of the Wyoming Constitution.

(END)

1
HB0209