The Only Solution Big Enough Trifold 4-1-13

Broken TrustA Trust is a common legal document used to secure the faithful transfer of property at a future time to a named recipient. The Trustee temporarily holds legal title to the property, but he or she is duty-bound to transfer the property according to the agreement.

In 1780, the original States created a written Trust agreement over the western lands binding Congress to (i) create “distinct republican states” with “the same rights of sovereignty, freedom and independence as the other states,” and (ii) to use the proceeds to pay the national debt. This Trust agreement was repeatedly renewed, including in the U.S. Constitution (Article IV, Section 3).

Courts, Congresses and Presidents reaffirmed this duty to transfer title to the western lands in newly created States, for example

“the price of these lands shall be reduced and graduated, and that after they have been offered for a certain number of years the refuse remaining unsold shall be abandoned to the States and the machinery of our land system entirely withdrawn. It can not be supposed the compacts intended that the United States should retain forever a title to lands within the States which are of no value, and no doubt is entertained that the general interest would be best promoted by surrendering such lands to the States.” - Pres. Andrew Jackson

To secure and defend local control of land access, land use and land ownership

Federal control of public lands is destroying forests and watersheds, shutting off access, constricting economic opportunity, breaking state and local government budgets, and threatening our way of life!

www.AmericanLandsCouncil.org@AmericanLandsCn

Join ALC Today and become part of

The Only Solution Big Enough!

www.AmericanLandsCouncil.org801.ALC.6622 ◆ [email protected]

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With Your Support ...• Individuals and businesses are joining and

helping to fund the mission of ALC;‣ Join ALC and Donate now - and encourage

friends, businesses, organizations and govts;‣ Sign the Petition;‣ Follow and regularly share ALC info;

•Counties are joining ALC, teaching their citizens, establishing networking committees, and leveraging state action action:‣ Dozens of resolutions from organizations, school

districts, cities, and counties to compel state and congressional action for the transfer of public lands;

‣ Leveraged action to introduce and pass Transfer of Public Lands Acts (TPLA) in 7 western states and groundbreaking jurisdiction bills.

• States are running TPLA legislation and networking public lands transfer efforts:‣ UT passed HB148 (2012) and HB142, HB155,

HB164, HB166, SJR13, HJR14 and HJR15 (2103;‣ WY passed HB228 (2103);‣ ID passed HCR21 and HCR22 (2013);‣ NV currently running AB227 (2013);‣ AZ passed HB2438 (2012;‣ NM, CO and MT are working on TPLA bills.‣ South Carolina House passed H.3552 Resolution

supporting the transfer of public lands to the western states.

• Congressional action to transfer public lands requires networked state and community leverage to educate, negotiate, legislate and, if necessary, to litigate.

Your Support Is Needed Now More Than Ever

To Bring About

The Only Solution Big Enough!

Without Your Help NOW We Could Lose Access and Use of Public Lands Forever!

• In March of 2013, Ecuador was forced to auction 700,000 acres of land and natural resources to pay debts to China;The federal government is broke, yet it is:•Closing tens of thousands of roads on public lands denying access for hunting, fishing, recreation, ranching, grazing, mining, fire breaks, access to school lands, etc;• Burning up our forests, killing millions of animals, polluting the air, and destroying watershed, property and life, instead of managing for healthier forests that used to fund schools, provide jobs, and a taxbase;‣ The FBI warns that Al Qaeda is targeting our mismanaged forests as jihad weapons;

• Begging, borrowing and burning resources, instead of using the more than $150 Trillion in minerals locked up in federally controlled lands to create jobs, fund education, reduce deficits, pay debts, and provide energy independence;• Driving businesses and jobs out of state with burdensome regulations on public lands subject to change with little warning; • Destroying state and local government budgets thru sequestration cuts, reneging on mineral lease royalties, demanding counties payback Secure Rural School (SRS) funds, dishonoring Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) promises, and printing billions of dollars monthly to overspend with no budget.

The most important action you can take today is to JOIN ALC and become part of The Only Solution Big Enough to protect public lands, our future, and our way of life!

Be Part OfThe Only Solution Big Enough!

The Promises are the Same!The promise of the federal government to “extinguish title” (transfer title) to the public lands is the same to all newly created states - both east and West of Colorado. The U.S. Supreme Court refers to these statehood contracts (Enabling Acts) as “trusts,” “solemn compacts,” and “bi-lateral agreements” to be performed “in a timely fashion.

So, Why The Difference?It’s Not when the states were created. CA statehood 1850, 47.7% public lands vs. OK statehood 1907, 1.6% public lands. Or, ID statehood 1890, 61.7% public lands vs. ND statehood 1889, 3.9% public lands.It’s Not the terms of transfer in their Enabling Acts because those are virtually the same.

For nearly 200 years, Congress recognized its duty to disposed of the public lands. It wasn’t until 1976 that Congress unilaterally declared that it was their new “policy to retain these lands in federal ownership.” (FLPMA).

However, in 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously declared that Congress doesn’t have the authority to unilaterally change “the uniquely sovereign character” of a state’s admission into the Union, particularly “where virtually all of a state’s public lands are a stake.” Hawaii v. OHA.

It’s Been Done Before!For decades, the federal government controlled as much as 90% of the lands in Illinois, Missouri and other states (IN, IL, MO, AR, LA, AL, MS, FL). They complained that because of this, they could not fund education, grow their economies, or responsibly utilize their abundant resources.

(The legal, constitutional, and historic foundation for the Transfer of Public Lands to the States is laid out in this Legal Overview available to read and share at www.AmericanLandsCouncil.org)

However, because those states (i) knew their history, (ii) knew their rights, (iii) banded together, and (iv) refused to take “NO” for an answer, they compelled Congress to transfer title to their lands. Today, the federal government controls less than 5% of all land in states east of Colorado.

It’s Already Been Done Before!