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Bill would force sale of foreign-adversary-owned land near ranges, offer whistleblower reward
Summary
Representative Ted Hill told the committee his bill would require foreign-adversary owners of agricultural, forest or mining land inside specified ranges to sell within 180 days or face enforcement; a whistleblower clause would award up to 30% of recovered assets.
Representative Ted Hill said House Bill 356 aims to prevent foreign-adversary control of lands and leases that could affect military ranges and other strategic sites. He cited the Department of Homeland Security's 2025 Homeland Threat Assessment and said the measure would require sale within 180 days after enactment or after a waiver lapses.
"If the foreign adversary owns agricultural land, mining rights or mines, they'll be forced to sell within 180 days of enactment of this legislation. And if they refuse to sell, we work to close on them," Hill said. He described challenges locating ultimate owners who often use shell companies and said the bill includes a whistleblower provision to help find such ownership.
Hill described a whistleblower reward: if a whistleblower's report leads to successful recovery and sale, the whistleblower could receive 30% of recovered assets. Hill used Syngenta—a large seed company with foreign ownership discussed in other states' reviews—as an example of the type of ownership scrutiny that has motivated similar laws elsewhere.
Colonel Kyle Carpenter of the Idaho Air National Guard described the size and purpose of military training ranges that the bill seeks to protect: the Mountain Home Range Complex (a large airspace and range used by many fighter aircraft) and the Orchard Combat Training Center (a large maneuver and live-fire area). Carpenter described frequent integrated air-to-ground and maneuver training across those facilities.
Hill emphasized the bill does not seize private land and said leases that give foreign adversaries operational control in covered areas would be subject to the requirement to sell. He said the bill focuses on national-security risks to ranges and installations and would not affect private property outside the defined range footprints.
The committee voted to send House Bill 356 to the floor with a due-pass recommendation. The transcript records a voice vote; two representatives were recorded on the transcript as voting no in the final tally request.
