Summary of Findings

Proposals for state governments to take over management of federal lands have frequently been put forward by lawmakers. This analysis looks at the fiscal impact to the State of Arizona if the state were to take over the management of land managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Forest Service (FS).

The BLM manages 12.1 million acres in Arizona, while the FS oversees 11.25 million acres. Arizona has roughly 73 million acres in total land area, so federal lands managed by BLM and FS constitute 32% of the land mass of the state. Presently, these lands are managed by the federal government by the Department of the Interior (BLM) and the Department of Agriculture (FS), respectively. Approximately $800 million dollars are currently infused into Arizona’s economy from federal sources. However, if the state has to pay for what the federal government is currently providing, then the state government would have to find a way to incur the expenses of land management through either increased taxes and/or lower expenditures. Thus, rather than an infusion of federal funds, the state would require redistribution of economic activity. Consequently, taking over federal lands will be more costly to the state’s General Fund, and would also reduce overall economic activity from its current baseline.

The results are summarized in the table below, which shows that Arizona would incur new annual expenses of about $800 million and the State’s GDP would decline by $1 billion.

Economic activity from visitor recreational spending is the primary driver of overall economic benefits from BLM and FS land. Collectively, activities on BLM and FS lands are estimated to add more than $5 billion to the State’s economy. Opportunities to improve on that are quite limited.

About

Dave Wells holds a Ph.D. in Political Economy and Public Policy and is the Research Director of the Grand Canyon Institute. He can be reached at dwells@azgci.org or (602) 595-1025 ext. 2.

The Grand Canyon Institute (GCI) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to informing and improving public policy in Arizona through evidence-based, independent, objective, nonpartisan research. GCI makes a good faith effort to ensure that findings are reliable, accurate, and based on reputable sources. While publications reflect the view of the Institute, they may not reflect the view of individual members of the Board.

Grand Canyon Institute 

P.O. Box 1008 

Phoenix, Arizona 85001-1008 

GrandCanyonInsitute.org