Where do you think the Feds get the money to “manage” the land?
Hint; it comes from the states.
So who do you think could do a better job with that money Fedzilla of the States themselves?
Don’t like the way the state does it? Much easier to vote them out than trying to get your congress critter to change anythings through Fedzilla.
What do you think?
Actually state and local governments can’t be trusted either. Look at the situation in Flint, Michigan. Look at the New Jersey bridge scandal involving Chris Christie. Look at the road scandals in almost every state.
If the state of Arizona had owned the Grand Canyon after statehood in the early 20th century, there would probably be expensive villas and high rise condo’s lining the rim today instead of a mostly pristine wilderness. Look at Niagara Falls for what state control and private enterprise without restrictions does to lands. Another example, the offshore coastal barrier islands of the east coast. Developers pushed state legislators to spend millions building bridges to those islands. States and local politicians then took thousands in political donations to look the other way while developers ruined those islands by constructing homes and condos on the ocean, often in front of the natural protective dune barriers. Today, government continues to subsidize this activity by declaring disasters and providing federal and state taxpayer financial support to the owners of damaged and destroyed buildings. Not to mention the millions of taxpayer money spent annually on seawalls and beach restoration projects trying to hold back the natural forces of wind and water.
Sorry, I don’t trust the western states to administer millions of acres of public land wisely any more than the federal government.