Submitted by Ken Watts
(The following is a letter from Idaho Attorney General, Raul Labrador, dated August 4, 2023.) “One of my priorities as the Idaho Attorney General is to defend our Constitutional freedoms and state sovereignty by pushing back against the Biden administration's intensifying federal overreach. To protect our Constitutional rights, we sued the Biden administration for attempting to violate our 2nd Amendment freedoms through new, overreaching ATF regulations. One of our most significant victories stopped the Biden administration's attempt to impose sweeping new rules over Idaho's water through the oppressive Waters of the United States (WOTUS) regulations. The proposed WOTUS regulations were a massive federal overreach, and their implementation would devastate our economy and freedoms. By reintroducing and expanding the Obama-era rule, the federal government sought to regulate nearly every droplet of water in the country. This would have resulted in an overbearing federal presence on Idaho land, hindering the progress of job creators, farmers, ranchers, and small business owners who rely on local resources. The Biden WOTUS rules would have acted as a barrier to land accessibility and utilization, posing significant challenges to Idaho's growth and development. My team and I strategically joined the State of Texas to fight against this attack on state sovereignty, despite numerous nay-sayers in government and the media, Idaho and Texas were the first two states to win a meaningful reprieve while the lawsuit continued in federal court. Despite these achievements, there remains a significant amount of work ahead to counteract overregulation under the Biden administration. Recently, the Bureau of Land Management put forth a rule that seeks to extend its control over public lands beyond the boundaries authorized by Congress. This proposal would provide BLM with an unprecedented level of authority. Moreover, the rule proposes the introduction of “conservation leases,” a concept unrecognized in law and one that would effectively convert public lands into private land available to the highest bidder. To address this power grab by the Federal government, I, along with seven fellow Attorneys General, submitted a letter to the BLM, expressing our collective belief that the proposed rule is unlawful. Additionally, I joined another letter from the Alaska Attorney General’s Office, warning the BLM that should it proceed with this blatantly unlawful rule, we are fully prepared to challenge it in court. The rule represents an endeavor by the Biden administration to privatize conservation efforts, converting vast expanses of public land into exclusive private playgrounds for the elite. Given that two-thirds of Idaho’s land is already managed by the Federal government, such privatization would have a profound impact on our state. Challenging federal overreach and fighting to uphold Idaho values are not always easy, but they are the right things to do. Rest assured, when it comes to defending Idaho's sovereignty and our personal freedoms, our office will continue to be proactive and diligent. Idaho deserves no less.”
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