Posted on 02/22/2016 10:25:45 AM PST by magellan
Real estate mogul Donald Trump would not let states take control of federal lands, the Republican presidential candidate said in a recent interview.
"I don't like the idea because I want to keep the lands great, and you don't know what the state is going to do," Trump said during a talk with Field & Stream magazine earlier this week.
The trade publication, sitting down with Trump at Las Vegas' Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade Show, had asked about the issue of turning over federally controlled lands to individual states -- an idea previously floated by rival 2016 contender and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and supported by staunch states-rights activists.
The proposal has also received more attention in light of recent actions by radical conservatives like Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and his son Ammon Bundy, who led an armed group earlier this month in occupying a national wildlife refuge in Oregon to protest federal land use policies.
Trump cautioned, however, that states would be unpredictable in maintaining the designated lands.
"I mean, are they going to sell if they get into a little bit of trouble?" Trump asked. "I don't think it's something that should be sold."
He added: "We have to be great stewards of this land. This is magnificent land. And we have to be great stewards of this land."
The billionaire businessman suggested later in the interview that while he was a fan of oil and gas companies drilling and fracking on federal lands, protecting the earth should still be a top priority.
"I'm very much into energy, and I'm very much into fracking and drilling, and we never want to be hostage again to OPEC and go back to where we were. And right now, we're at a very interesting point because right now there's so much energy," Trump said. "And maybe that's an advantage and maybe--actually, it's more of an advantage in terms of your question because we don't have to do the kind of drilling that we did."
"I am for energy exploration, as long as we don't do anything to damage the land. And right now we don't need too much -- there's a lot of energy," he said.
Wouldn't for a moment put it past the Libs to push that front in a Cruz V. Clinton fight.
Mail.
Emil Faber could not have said it any better.
When you think about it, there is really nothing to backup the value of the US currency except whatever property the federal government holds. It seems to me that they should be drilling and mining that land and use those commodities to backup the dollar. I know it’s a drop in the bucket, but still. Some day the currency hoax bubble is gonna burst.
Republican Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Marco Rubio (Fla.) and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson all took to the campaign trail on Monday to denounce the gunmen. Cruz was the most forceful, calling on the activists to "stand down." "Every one of us has a constitutional right to protest, to speak our minds," Cruz said in Iowa, according to NBC News. "But we don't have a constitutional right to use force and violence and to threaten force and violence on others," he said. "And so it is our hope that the protesters there will stand down peaceably, that there will not be a violent confrontation."
“In the next hour this thread will have75 posts of screaming Trump supporters explaining what Trump really meant and how he’ll make America Great aga”
This article was already discussed back on JANUARY 22ND when it was posted before.
Would I like all of the land to go to the states? Sure. Do all of the states want it? Not really.
Did even Reagan make a rush to do it? No.
Is this the issue of our time? Nope.
Are there any people on this site that refused to go to a national park because of this? I doubt it.
“...you don’t know what the state is going to do”.
Uh, no, Donald. You don’t. But you also don’t know what the Feds via the EPA are going to do to totally screw up the state’s and the citizens that live in that state’s land (See: EPA pollutes Animas River in Colorado in the biggest environmental disaster in decades).
Offhand, I’ll take what the states ‘might do’ over what the incompetent Fed always does any damned day. But thanks for showing us (again and still) just who and what you really are, Donald. Just another pro-big government leftie.
Me too - and probably an issue Trump doesn’t really understand from either a constitutional or practical perspective.
But, I am sure that a proper partition by individuals or for proper State projects would be considered by the Trump Presidency. Trump realizes that as America expands so does the need for land expansion. As a businessman it is part of his world.
Bingo
This is about #93 on the list of most critical issues facing the country right now. The usual band of posters crying that Trump is a liberal or he lost my vote over something that’s not going to change for awhile if ever. Get the rest of the house in order and then have a discussion about turning the land back to the states.
I disagree with him.
Of course this is one more issue that ranks down in the 70s range, on my list of must haves.
Think about it. This issue will not change. It can be addressed later.
It’s not like he’s confiscating new land.
One more nothing burger for breakfast, lunch, and dinner day...
Of course they will
Ive at least noticed Turnip supporters aren’t even pretending he is remotely conservative so this doesn’t matter.
...and the Constitution be damned, right?
When ones livelihood depends on said lands, then it —does— become an issue of the right to life and the right to keep and bear arms.
Ranchers and farmers lives depend on them being able to use the land, plus being able to guard against varmints....
Both the four legged kind and the two legged kind.
Once again Trump speaking on a subject he knows nothing about.
I disagree with him.
Of course this is one more issue that ranks down in the 70s range, on my list of must haves.
Think about it. This issue will not change. It can be addressed later.
Its not like hes confiscating new land.
One more nothing burger for breakfast, lunch, and dinner day...
It’s important to every state in the American West and Alaska.
Yeah, like he's been a consistent supporter on those issues too.
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