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House passes bill to create work group to study future uses of state trust lands
Summary
Lawmakers approved House Bill 13-32 to create a legislative work group to study state trust land uses and provide recommendations to the State Land Board and legislature. Floor debate focused on protecting agricultural leases, ensuring multiple-use management, and broadening stakeholder appointments.
The House passed House Bill 13-32, establishing a work group to study uses of state trust lands and to submit recommendations to the state land board, the governor and the General Assembly.
Representative McCormick, the bill sponsor, told the House the work group will be a “think tank” to develop a roadmap for how state trust lands and minerals are managed for the next 150 years. She emphasized the bill does not amend existing leases or reduce funding for public schools; rather, it charges the group to study options and report back.
Committee amendments narrowed the legislative declaration, shifted many appointments to legislative appointees rather than executive appointments, required the work group to consider private property interests, added a member with water resources experience and reduced the scope of the declaration. A subsequent amendment (L5) added seats for agriculture organizations and an affordable housing representative; another amendment (L4) clarified language to preserve multiple-use management and to state the bill would not affect existing oil and gas leases.
Floor speakers described a range of local concerns. Representative Soukla recounted local examples of state trust lands used for recreation, race tracks and mountain-bike trails and urged understanding of local impacts. Representative Garcia Sander and others emphasized that oil and gas revenues remain an important source of school funding and that the bill’s language clarifying multiple-use management was important to stakeholders.
The work group will report to the State Land Board, the legislature and the Department of Natural Resources with any recommendations; the bill removes a safety clause and adjusts deadlines as part of committee changes. The measure passed on a voice vote.
