Idaho congressman says some federal lands should be ‘controlled locally’

Idaho Republican Rep. Russ Fulcher wants his state to be at the center of the ongoing debate over federal land ownership in the West.

Fulcher this week sent out a letter to an undisclosed number of state and county lawmakers announcing that he has started holding informal meetings with local leaders “to discuss best land management practices and how to effectively move forward” with potentially managing millions of acres of federal lands.

The goal: state and local control, if not outright ownership, of federal lands that constitute 62 percent of Idaho’s landmass.

“Our public lands need to stay public,” Fulcher wrote, “but they need to be controlled locally.”