States findings of the Legislature and requests federal intervention to ensure proper application of FLPMA.

LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO Sixty-eighth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2026 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL NO. 9 BY RESOURCES AND CONSERVATION COMMITTEE A JOINT MEMORIAL1 TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, THE SENATE AND THE HOUSE OF REPRESEN-2 TATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED, THE CONGRESSIONAL3 DELEGATIONS REPRESENTING THE STATES OF IDAHO, UTAH, NEVADA, AND WYOMING4 IN THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES, THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY GEN-5 ERAL, AND THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR.6 We, your Memorialists, the House of Representatives and the Sen-7 ate of the State of Idaho assembled in the Second Regular Session of the8 Sixty-eighth Idaho Legislature, do hereby respectfully represent that:9 WHEREAS, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) administers 245 million10 acres of public lands, which equates to roughly one tenth of all land in the11 United States; and12 WHEREAS, Idaho, like most other western states, has large portions of13 land managed by BLM within its borders; and14 WHEREAS, BLM land, and other federally owned land, is often intermin-15 gled with state and private lands, so exchanges and other disposal options16 are vital tools for administering such lands and achieving important recre-17 ation, community development, wildlife conservation, and resource develop-18 ment objectives, such as timber harvesting, mining, and energy projects; and19 WHEREAS, given BLM's large ownership interest of lands within the20 United States, particularly within Idaho, and the intermingled nature of21 these lands, it is critical to Idaho, as it should be to the nation, that22 these lands are predictably managed in accordance with laws that were23 adopted to ensure orderly and consistent administration of such lands; and24 WHEREAS, the federal government once managed these public lands under a25 patchwork of some 3,000 public land laws; and26 WHEREAS, in 1964, Congress charged a commission to bring order to the27 process and propose ways to rationalize and systematize the management of28 public lands; and29 WHEREAS, in 1976, Congress acted on these recommendations by enacting30 the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA). FLPMA is the comprehen-31 sive system for predictably managing public lands for multiple uses. The32 statute broadly applies to any land and interest in land owned by the United33 States, without regard to how the United States acquired ownership, that is34 administered by the Secretary of the Department of the Interior, wherein BLM35 resides; and36 WHEREAS, FLPMA provided the tools vital to administering intermingled37 lands by establishing uniform procedures for the disposal of federally owned38 public land, including the authority and procedures to exchange public lands39 for non-federal lands, when it is in the public interest; and40 WHEREAS, for the past 50 years, FLPMA's broad authority for conducting41 land exchanges has been universally recognized and acknowledged; however,42

2 a legal decision originating in Idaho threatens FLPMA's comprehensive1 process; and2 WHEREAS, Congress needs to immediately reaffirm FLPMA's primary in-3 tent. Failure to act may have far-reaching consequences in Idaho, including4 encumbering the management of millions of acres across the West, along with5 threatening the certainty of other completed FLPMA land exchanges and dis-6 posals.7 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the members of the Second Regular Ses-8 sion of the Sixty-eighth Idaho Legislature, the House of Representatives and9 the Senate concurring therein, that the Idaho Legislature strongly urges the10 Congress of the United States to, as expeditiously as possible, enact legis-11 lation reaffirming that FLPMA is the proper and primary avenue to facilitate12 effective federal land management and disposal, including by land exchange.13 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that as intended by Congress and provided for in14 FLPMA, previous land disposal laws should not be interpreted to conflict15 with or override FLPMA's disposal authority. Such expeditious action by16 Congress will prevent the West from being pushed back into the management17 chaos that Congress fixed in 1976 by enacting FLPMA.18 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Chief Clerk of the House of Represen-19 tatives be, and she is hereby authorized and directed to forward a copy of20 this Memorial to the President of the United States, the President of the21 Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives of Congress, the con-22 gressional delegations representing the states of Idaho, Utah, Nevada, and23 Wyoming in the Congress of the United States, the United States Attorney Gen-24 eral, and the Secretary of the Interior.25