claim: "the constitution simply does not authorize the federal government to own any of this land (in the western states)."
author: andrew napolitano
evidence_1: jan 14, 2016 ... "the constitution simply does not authorize the federal government to own any of  this land (in the. western states)."1. -- fox news senior ...
evidence_2: feb 6, 2016 ... the federal government has title to about half the territory of the eight rocky  mountain states, the west coast states, and alaska. ... liberal writers baldly  claimed that the federal government could own any land it wants to, however it ...  but within state boundaries the constitution grants no authority to retain ...
evidence_3: feb 4, 2016 ... supporters of transferring federal lands to state or local control, including the ...  and that is that the federal government does not have authority to come down  into ... when it comes to the west, donahue says the reference to “needful ... “ they're just not accurately representing what the constitution says and ...
evidence_4: dec 16, 2016 ... the federal government owns roughly 640 million acres of land, about ... states  can obtain authority to own and manage federal lands within ... and whether  congress should transfer some degree of ownership and management of land to  ..... agencies' primary responsibility and do not authorize delegation.
evidence_5: federal lands are not subject to state or local taxes, of course, affecting ... since  the federal act's passage in 1976, western legislators have ... utah's law, which  authorized suing the federal government if it didn't turn ... and maintaining cultural  and historic resources to simple ones like putting up ... constitutional hurdles.