Continued Trump Administration Fallout

[Dill]

(05-08-2021, 06:48 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: This all gave me an idea. Republicans tend to point to these maps that highlight land area with the colors because these rural districts with low population density are larger than the condensed, tightly packed districts. However, in some states there is a large percentage of the land that is publicly owned. So, Wyoming's land is 55.9% publicly owned. We should come up with a way to reduce political power based on the percentage of publicly owned land since that land isn't held by a citizen with a vote, but the collective citizenry.

I'm joking of course, but it's a fun thought experiment to think about Alaska (95.8% public), Nevada (87.8%), Utah (75.2%), Idaho (70.4%), Oregon (60.4%), Arizona (56.8%), Wyoming (55.9%), and California (52.1%) having their political power reduced so much as states where the majority of their land is publicly held.

Well that is some interesting information. I checked and 5.6 of that 55.9% is owned by the state of Wyoming, not the federal gov. I think only 60% of Alaskan public land is federally owned. The remainder I'm guessing is state owned. 

For the thought experiment to get off the ground though, wouldn't you need an amendment tying representation to land area? Otherwise, for purposes of Senate representation, a state is a state and equal to all others regardless of area. And as for the House, Wyoming still has its 563, 000 citizens claiming their one rep. Or how is the "collective citizenry" advantaged? 

Then there is the question of Indian reservations, held "in trust" by the federal gov. Do they count as public land, but "held" by the citizens who live on them? You'd be looking at tracts of populated "federal" land the size of Massachusetts and New Jersey in some cases. "Or larger," an angry Navaho would remind me. In Montana, whites are allowed to own land on the (public?) Flathead reservation (westernmost on the map) but not on the Crow (southernmost). 



lol little dot there in VA? I can't really tell. Y'all didn't treat yer Indians good.