“It sounds like we have a lot in common,” Brenden said. “Talking about the EPA, in one example, we’ve been fighting the Clean Water Act, which is a takings in my mind of property owners and ranchers.”

The EQC then heard testimony from Sen. Chuck Winder of Idaho, who chairs the Federal Lands Interim Committee in that state. Winder told the working group that officials in Idaho consulted with its attorney general on the transfer of federal lands to state ownership. The attorney general told the officials that a takeover of lands via the courts did not have merit. Not to be discouraged, Idaho hired private legal counsel to continue exploring a legal avenue, but also wants to explore a political remedy as well, he said.

People in Idaho are not satisfied with the management of their federal lands, and cumbersome regulations make using those lands for grazing, timber or mineral development almost impossible, Winder said.

“People know management of federal lands in our state is broken,” he said. “The feds control 90 percent of lands in some counties. We have no tax base to support our schools. We used to have mining and logging, but those have gone away.”