State & Local Government Policy, Business and Technology

Senators Look at Policing Practices by Federal Land Management Agencies

Route Fifty: The question of whether federal land management agencies should be stripped of their law enforcement powers requires “ongoing discussion,” a Utah Republican said Wednesday at an oversight hearing of the Senate Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining.

“We all seem to agree there should be more local law enforcement involvement in this area,” Sen. Mike Lee said at the conclusion of the hearing. “The question that remains, as I see it, is whether law enforcement authority for federal land management agencies are, by their nature, so wrongly placed or at least situated in such a way that they are so prone to abuse that Congress should consider amending or perhaps revoking their authority.”

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