WASHINGTON (Idaho Capital Sun) — Idaho U.S. Rep. Russ Fulcher said he is convening meetings statewide to explore transferring management and ownership of the Gem State’s vast federal public lands to state and local governments.

The Republican congressman on Monday sent a letter to Idaho statewide elected officials, legislators, and county commissioners, calling the eventual shift to local control of the land “imminent.”

“If this issue is left unaddressed, we will have a real problem on our hands that will likely put unsustainable pressure on local property taxes,” Fulcher wrote.

Nearly two-thirds of Idaho’s landmass is federally owned and managed. Fulcher wrote that the “extensive federal government footprint in our state poses significant challenges to our autonomy in issuing leases fo

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