Hageman Champions Private Property Rights Against Federal Intrusion
Washington, DC— Congresswoman Harriet Hageman reintroduced the No Net Gain in Federal Lands Act, the PASTURES Act, and legislation to repeal the SUSTAINS Act to protect Wyoming’s landowners and preserve the fundamental constitutional right to own and manage private property. Hageman is pushing back against federal expansion and ensuring that land management decisions are returned to the hands of the people where they belong. By prioritizing private property rights and local control, Hageman’s legislation seeks to empower Wyoming landowners, provide more certainty for our communities, and safeguard our livelihoods as intended by the founders.
The No Net Gain in Federal Lands Act stops the USDA and DOI from expanding federal land holdings without giving up a similar amount or value of acreage to the state. Hageman’s second bill, the PASTURES Act, will shield landowners bordering federally leased land by requiring agencies to construct fences before enforcing trespassing penalties after sudden permit adjustments. Finally, her third bill repeals the SUSTAINS Act, a misguided Pelosi-backed piece of legislation that changes USDA conservation programs to advance the United Nations’ natural capital accounting agenda on private lands.
“The federal government already controls 640 million acres of land, along with a maintenance backlog of tens of billions of dollars, and I promise you they don’t need any more,” stated Rep. Hageman. “I’ve spent countless hours in court defending landowners from the feds and understand the compounding problems associated with federal land control. With Republican majorities now in Congress and President Trump in the White House, real change is within reach. We must block the USDA and DOI from expanding their real property empire, thereby protecting ranchers and innovators from federal overreach and the states from losing even more land to the federal behemoth. Private property is the foundation of our prosperity and freedom. The federal government has proven that it does a terrible job of managing the resources that it has, with catastrophic forest and prairie fires and insect and noxious weed infestations now being the new normal. It is time that we return to common sense by recognizing that expanding the federal estate—either by operation of increased regulation or real property purchases—does not serve the interests of the American public.”
Contact: Esteban Elizondo, Communications Director