Late last week lawmakers on the House Energy, Technology and Federal Relations committee voted to pass House Joint Resolution 24 on to the House floor. The resolution essentially says that Montana endorses a Utah lawsuit against the federal government.
The state’s suit to take ownership of 37 million acres of federal public lands was supported by several other Republican-led states attorneys general, but Montana did not sign on.
Marion Republican Tom Millett is the resolution's sponsor.
"Right now, the western states are deprived of basic and fundamental sovereign powers over their territory," Millett says.
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Utah’s lawsuit in January of this year, but Millett says he expects the state to file it in federal district court.
Opponents to Millett’s resolution questioned why Montana would wade into a debate over land in Utah. Others voiced concerns that it could lead to eventual privatization of public lands in Montana.
Mark Deopsomer is with the Backcountry Horsemen Club.
"We're concerned that this language is part of a broader movement to shift control of federal public lands to the states, a move our organization strongly opposes," he told the committee.
The resolution passed out of committee after nearly 50 people spoke against it. No one spoke in favor of it.
The committee’s vote fell along party lines, all Democrats opposed the legislation.
