Every year, it seems the Arizona Wildlife Federation pushes back on a handful of damaging public lands bills in our state legislature. The 2024 legislative session was different. There was an egregious amount of anti-public lands bills. We believe that this onslaught of bills was at least in part reactionary to the designation of our newest Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument. Although this new monument protects one of America’s greatest wildernesses from irresponsible energy development and resource extraction, conserving it for hunters, anglers, ranchers, and all Americans, there are still those who oppose any form of federal land designation.

This session, five bills and five memorials targeted various proposals, ranging from requiring state legislature, governor, and county approval for a private and willing landowner to sell their land to the federal government, to rescinding the Antiquities Act and asking that 30% of our federal public lands be turned over to the private hands of the state. Additionally, there were even bills opposing conservation easements, which are widely recognized as effective tools for independent landowners to support conservation efforts.

Fortunately, in the end, all the bills died in committees with just one (the private lands sale permission bill, HB2376, mentioned above) passing through the House and the Senate to the Governor’s desk where it was successfully vetoed. Unfortunately, the five aforementioned memorials passed and were transmitted to the Secretary of State. While memorials are not actionable items and are therefore not taken seriously oftentimes, they do send a dangerous message to our administration that Arizonans don’t care about or value our public lands.

With the defeat of all actionable bills, the 2024 legislative session can certainly be counted as a win for our public lands, outdoor recreation, and conservation. That being said, the passage of the five anti-public lands memorials should be a reminder to all who value their and their families’ access to Arizona’s beautiful public lands to stay tuned and stay vigilant!

For more information on the 2024 session and these bills, please visit our bill tracker at: azwildlife.org/2024-Arizona-Bill-Tracker

To learn how you can get involved in future advocacy opportunities, reach out to our Advocacy Director, Michael Cravens at michael@azwildlife.org