By Mike Matejka

As the stand-off continues between the self-appointed militia in Burns, Oregon at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, as an urban Midwesterner, I try hard to understand the motivations and the strong feelings about federal land.

I’ve driven, flown and rode a train across those vast western expanses. Some are used for ranching, some are simply open range and much is very sparsely inhabited.

First of all, much of that land is open because there is little immediate economic value to it. A drive across the high deserts of Nevada quickly proves that point. But part of the equation is also a long-standing love hate relationship.   The west developed because of federal subsidy and many of those states are highly dependent upon federal funds.

There is a website called wallethub.com, that asked eight university economists to rank the states by their federal tax return. Which states get a full dollar back in taxes and which don’t? If you visit the site, you’ll find the economists came up with varied measurement instruments to co-relate their data.

Our home state, Illinois, was number 3 in lowest return of the federal dollar, getting 45 cents back for every dollar we send to Washington. We also have 5 ½ federal workers for every 1,000 residents. The states with the highest return on their federal dollar were in the South and the West. New Mexico led the pack, receiving $2.19 for every dollar sent to Washington and 18 ½ federal employees for every 1,000 residents. Montana was number 5 in return, gaining $1.24 for every tax dollar and having 13 ½ federal employees for every 1,000 residents.

Between maintaining dams, irrigation systems and river ways, long stretches of interstate, National Parks and National Forests, plus Native American reservations and other federal programs, the western states who bristle at Washington are also often the biggest tax takers, along with the deep South.

I’m sure meeting federal environmental guidelines and restrictions on federal land is a pain for a leaseholder. At the same time, the land does belong to all of us. One reason so much western land is under protection is the forest clear-cutting and other environmental damage that led President Theodore Roosevelt a hundred and ten years ago to protect land through federal supervision.

So the boys in cowboy hats camped out in the bird reserve probably do have some points worth discussing. It should first include an acknowledgement how much the West still depends on federal subsidy. And oh, by the way, as these cowboys claim to want more control over western lands, has anyone asked the Native Americans what they think?

Mike Matejka is the Governmental Affairs director for the Great Plains Laborers District Council, covering 11,000 union Laborers in northern Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota. He lives in Bloomington with his wife and daughter and their two dogs. He served on the Bloomington City Council for 18 years, is a past president of the McLean County Historical Society and Vice-President of the Illinois Labor History Society.

The opinions expressed within WJBC’s Forum are solely those of the Forum’s author, and are not necessarily those of WJBC or Cumulus Media, Inc.