| OCR Text |
Show 58 government cede unreserved government lands to the individual states. 147 These lands were "almost entirely grazing lands, or else wholly arid lands," but also included all claims to mineral rights. 148 Although the governors passed this resolution, it first faced considerable debate, and the support was not unanimous. Also, it is clear from press accounts that public support was minimal and opposition was strong. Larrazolo appointed a conunittee to gather public support for the resolution, conceding that "a campaign of education will have to be undertaken before popular demand for such state control would be aroused to an effective degree." 149 The press was also critical of Larrazolo's demands, calling into question the consistency of his argwnents. The Deseret Evening News reported: [Larrazolo] called attention repeatedly to the lack of any definite figures, and to the use of antiquated book-keeping systems in the department of the interior [sic}, and yet used those figures to show that these lands are actually administered at a cost to the government of around a million and a quarter annually. 150 The governors' frustration that the federal government controlled too much land anticipated a movement that would grow over the years, building public support that culminated in the Sagebrush Rebellion of the 1970s and '80s. The governors' arguments in 1919 were similar to those expressed more than fifty years later. For example, they argued that individual states could manage the land with less cost to taxpayers and greater 141 DesereI Evening News, "League of Public Land State Fanned," August 19, 1919, 8. This story described the lands under discussion as follows: "This is to be taken to mean practically all public lands outside of the forest reserves and outside of such areas as will come under possible large government.al reclamation projects." 14¥ Ibid. 149 lbid. 150 Deseret Evening News, "Opposes Plan to Take Over Land,'' August 18, 1919, sec 2, 1. |
