Utah Sues The Feds For The Nation's Public Lands
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Well, it's here. The Utah land grab attempt. If we can get a Democratic congress, this could be moot, as only they can transfer lands.
Utah gave 'em up long ago and said they wouldn't ask for them back.
But our Governor disagrees, (disagree better?) and wants to put the land management into the hands of real estate developers in the legislature.
His press conference https://x.com/GovCox/status/1825940561288937830
The Federal Government controls 70% of the land in Utah. The U.S. Constitution never intended a federal agency to hold onto so much land in any state – that’s why the state of Utah is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on this constitutional question we, and many western states, have had for years. Today the state of Utah filed a landmark public lands lawsuit asking the U.S. Supreme Court to address whether the federal government can hold “unappropriated’ lands within a state indefinitely. The “unappropriated” land in question is approximately 18.5 million acres, or 34% of land in Utah, controlled by the Bureau of Land Management. This lawsuit will NOT impact the millions of “appropriated” acres already designated as national parks, national monuments, wilderness areas, national forests, Tribal lands, or military properties. This lawsuit is a critical first step to ensure the best management of Utah public lands far into the future. Utah is committed to keeping public lands in public hands and locally controlled. Utah deserves priority when it comes to managing its land. And Utahns are best positioned to understand and respond to the unique needs of our environment and communities. For updates and more information, visit http://standforourland.utah.gov
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E-mail today from the
E-mail today from the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance - www.suwa.org
Out Utah has often been described as “ground zero” for anti-public lands efforts. Yesterday, the state’s leaders took this sentiment to a whole new extreme. The Governor and Utah’s elected leadership proudly announced the state had filed a lawsuit at the US Supreme Court that would turn over 18.5 million acres of federal public lands to the state.
Make no mistake: this is an unprecedented land grab. It would take public lands and give them to the State of Utah and ultimately to developers and extractive industries. The consequences for Southern Utah—beloved places like Labyrinth Canyon, the Dirty Devil, the Deep Creek Mountains, and Fisher Towers—would be beyond devastating. If the state wins, it would cause chaos and similar lawsuits affecting nearly 200 million acres of land across the Western US and Alaska.
Rather than celebrating that Utah has some of the nation’s (if not the world’s)—most stunning public lands and redrock wilderness, Utah leaders are hard at work to take millions of acres of these lands away from the American people.
Utah’s short-sighted politicians have been trying this Land Grab game on-and-off-again for decades. While the politicians clearly think the ultra-conservative Supreme Court is leaning their way, we’re taking this unprecedented threat seriously. It’s beyond outrageous and we’ll be fighting it in every way we can.
Over the coming weeks and months, we will keep you informed on this latest fool’s errand and what we’re doing to stop it. You can read our statement from yesterday as well as news coverage from the Salt Lake Tribune , Fox 13, the Associated Press, and Utah News Dispatch. If you’re able, please consider a donation to support our work.
For the redrock and against a land grab,
Scott Groene
Executive Director
Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance