Amidst a new "Sagebrush Rebellion" ignited by a Nevada rancher and his armed supporters that threatened to turn violent, Congressman Raúl Grijalva has asked the U.S. Department of the Interior to "investigate the role of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) in efforts to pass bills at the state level" that undermine federal authority over state lands and thwart the agency's duties.

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"ALEC's pattern of activity raises serious questions about how changes to land management laws and regulations, especially in the Western United States, are being pushed by ALEC without public disclosure of its role or that of the corporations that fund its legislative agenda," Grijalva wrote in an April 16 letter to the Acting Inspector General of the Department of Interior.

For decades, ALEC has pushed legislation to transfer public lands and national forests to state control -- likely for the purposes of oil, gas, and coal extraction, which would benefit ALEC members like Peabody Energy, Duke Energy, American Electric Power, and others.

For decades, it has pushed "model" legislation like the "Sagebrush Rebellion Act" for states to introduce and adopt to seize control of federal lands. As far back as 1978, ALEC was boasting of its role in helping spur the Sagebrush Rebellion (as well as its "victory" in pushing mandatory minimum sentencing), and included Sagebrush Rebellion legislation in its 1980 "Energy for the Eighties" briefing book, which was developed thanks to "ALEC's fine working relationship with the American Petroleum Institute."

In Wisconsin, the party of Abraham Lincoln will be deciding this weekend whether it favors not only the right to secession but also the right to nullify federal laws.

Delegates at the state Republican convention are set to vote Saturday on a proposed resolution that directs lawmakers to push through legislation nullifying Obamacare, Common Core educational standards and "drone usage in the state of Wisconsin."

"Be it further resolved," the proposal concludes, "that we strongly insist our state representatives work to uphold Wisconsin's 10th Amendment rights, and our right to, under extreme circumstances, secede, passing legislation affirming this to the U.S. Federal Government."

Republican officials had confirmed that the so-called "state sovereignty" resolution made it onto the agenda for the convention, which is being held in Milwaukee beginning Friday. But the wording of the actual resolution had not been made public.