You will write a position paper related to turning-over Federal lands in the American West to the States and/or privatizing them. You will be assigned a “side” in the debate and expected to vigorously advocate your position. You are expected to be informed of the arguments for and against transferring responsibility and/or selling-off Federal lands. Consider yourself a professional policy advocate. Also note that you may be assigned to represent a position with which you do not agree. That is part of the exercise. You may not have a choice. You should focus on the following question:
Should Federal Land in the American West be transferred to the states or privatized?
The position paper is dueNovember 17th at class time. Students whose last names begin with A-Hall will be OPPOSED to turning over Federal land to the states or privatizing them, and students with last names beginning with Hipolito-Z will be in favor of transferring or selling Federal lands. There are background readings by Barbara Mantel entitled "Managing Western Lands" and "Managing Public Lands" on Canvas.
Grading Criteria and Approach
The position paper will be worth 100 points. In order to get an “A” or “A-“ on a position paper, it must: 1) Be well written; 2) Two complete pages in length; 3) Use evidence and logical argumentation; 4) Be properly cited; 5) Have proper endnote format; and 6) Involve the use of authoritative and diverse sources, amongst other considerations.
There are a couple of ways you might go about writing your position paper. First, you could adopt the position of a particular organization or institution in the debate. For example, you could adopt the position or use the research of those groups that have associated with the “new” Sagebrush Rebellion, such as the American Lands Council, Utah’s Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office, Pacific Legal Foundation, American Legislative Exchange Council, Blue Ribbon Coalition, Americans for Prosperity,Constitutional Sheriff and Peace Officers’ Association, or their opponents, such as the Center for American Progress, Center for Western Priorities, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, and Headwater Economics amongst others. You could also adopt the position of various elected officials in the West associated with this effort, such as Utah State Representative Ken Ivory. Second, you may choose to focus on one aspect of the debate about privatizing or transferring Federal lands to the states and elaborate upon it fully in your position paper.You do not necessarily have to focus on every dimension of every problem or opportunity presented by devolution/privatization. So, you could focus on such issues as the economic development potential of Federal lands, public support for devolution/privatization, states’ rights to the land, the quality of Federal management of public lands, the cost of managing such land by the states, Fire management of Federal lands, oil and gas, mineral and timber leasing, the impact of Federal management on local and state communities, access to public lands, the constitutionality of transfer, the equity issues associated with transferring title to the land, and lessons from the past Sagebrush Rebellion, amongst other issues. You will want to become familiar with the history behind the recent rebirth of the Sagebrush Rebellion.
Much of your research will probably be internet-based, but you are encouraged to use other sources. Above all, you should use scholarly research articles. I want to see EVIDENCE-BASED arguments. Where evidence is lacking, I want to see logical argumentation.