Public Lands

The Utah Legislature Flunks Law School

Holly mentions Utah’s quixotic, somewhat deranged attempt to seize federal lands by eminent domain, correctly observing that federal law would pre-empt any state eminent domain action. One might also mention McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), which held that a state cannot tax a federal agency. If a state can’t tax a federal agency, how in the …

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Deja vu all over again

Remember the Sagebrush Rebellion and the County Supremacy Movement? They were attempts in the 1970s-80s and 1990s, respectively, by state and local governments in the west to assert control over federal lands. They didn’t make any legal progress because of the pesky Supremacy and Property Clauses of the US Constitution, which declare that the federal …

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