Reply #46: ALEC behind RW plans for states to use eminent domain to seize federal lands [View All]

Some of the measures have spread after being tried out last year on a small scale.

Utah’s Legislature — often a pioneer in challenging federal laws — passed a bill in 2010 that authorized the state to use eminent domain protections to seize federal lands. It then appropriated $3 million for what state officials acknowledged would be an uphill legal battle to defend their stance.

This year, six more states — Arizona, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington — have taken up the argument, according to the American Legislative Exchange Council, a nonprofit group that supports limited government and free markets.

Clint Woods, the director of the group’s energy, environment and agriculture task force, said the wave of new bills had been fueled by the Department of Interior’s talk about designating “wild lands” that would be protected from development and creating new national monuments.