New Bill Would Eliminate Law Enforcement On Public Lands, Despite Risks Of Violent Extremism

BY JENNY ROWLAND -- GUEST CONTRIBUTOR MAR 24, 2016 1:06 PM

Just one month after the armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Representative Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) introduced a bill to abolish the law enforcement capacity of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Forest Service officials. The bill proposes to instead transfer all law enforcement powers on U.S. public lands to local sheriffs, thus implementing a major demand of anti-government extremists — many of whom think sheriffs have more authority over local matters than the federal government ...

Many of the sponsors of Rep. Chaffetz’s bill are the same people responsible for fanning the flames of the extremists at Malheur in January. Their public land seizure rhetoric and policies give a signal to so-called patriot militias and anti-government activists that their complaints are legitimate and their goals justified.

H.R. 4751 would give power to local officials who are likely to be inexperienced in federal land management laws or themselves tied to patriot or anti-government extremists groups, like Grant County sheriff Glenn Palmer. Rep. Chaffetz’s bill would also fulfill a major objective of the radical county supremacy movement, led by Richard Mack and the Constitutional Sheriffs, and supported by Cliven and Ammon Bundy. The movement believes that county sheriffs are the highest law enforcement authorities in the United States, with constitutional powers that supersede those of the federal government ...

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/03/24/3763100/chaffetz-bill-public-lands/