Utah suing federal government to gain control of millions of acres of public lands

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah is suing the federal government in the U.S. Supreme Court, hoping to force the divestment of nearly 20 million acres of public lands owned by the federal government back to the state.

The state is asking for the nation’s highest court to rule on whether 34%, or 18.5 million acres of unappropriated land can come back to be managed by Utah. Utah’s top political leaders held a press event Tuesday, arguing the feds are not using that land and they are better managed when in state hands.

The leaders were clear that the state isn’t suing over national parks, monuments, or forests.

“It is not a secret that we live in the most beautiful state in the nation. But, when the federal government controls two-thirds of Utah, we are extremely limited in what we can do to actively manage and protect our natural resources,” said Gov. Spencer Cox in a press conference. “We are committed to ensuring that Utahns of all ages and abilities have access to public lands. The BLM has increasingly failed to keep these lands accessible and appears to be pursuing a course of active closure and restriction. It is time for all Utahns to stand for our land.”

Fire prevention order issued for BLM managed lands in north/central Utah

He said the goal is not to privatize the land but to manage it in a way that is “better for Utah.”

Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes said the lawsuit centers around a simple question: Can the federal government simply hold unappropriated lands within a state indefinitely?”

“Nothing in the text of the Constitution authorizes such an inequitable practice,” Reyes said. “In fact, the framers of the Constitution carefully limited federal power to hold land within states. Current federal land policy violates state sovereignty and offends the original and most fundamental notions of federalism.”

State leaders are urging the Supreme Court to take up their case, which they say they filed this morning.

“The Supreme Court has original jurisdiction on issues between states and the federal government,” Reyes said.

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… pic.twitter.com/32k8XpT2od

— Utah Gov. Spencer J. Cox (@GovCox) August 20, 2024

Cox said if the court says no, they will take their case back to district court levels, but they didn’t want to start there because of how long the process could take, only to ultimately have it end up back in the high court.

“We don’t have 20 years to get there,” he said.

The governor said he didn’t know if other states would yet join the lawsuit.

Rep. John Curtis said on social media that he was “pleased” to see state leaders trying to protect state land that Utahns have been “connected to for generations.”

“In my district, about 80% of the land is public, which makes it challenging for the local gov to raise taxes to pay for essential services,” Curtis said in a post.

Pushback on the suit

Multiple groups blasted the state of Utah for filing the claim.

“Governor Cox and the state legislature need to make a U-turn before they waste millions of taxpayer dollars enriching out-of-state lawyers on this pointless lawsuit,” the Center for Western Priorities said in a statement.

Similarly, the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance said the lawsuit makes Utah “the most anti-public lands state in the country.”

CWP STATEMENT on Utah's foolish land-grab lawsuit from CWP Deputy Director Aaron Weiss: #utpol pic.twitter.com/t27BVhNtOH

— Western Priorities (@WstrnPriorities) August 20, 2024

University of Utah law professor John Ruple said the state’s arguments in the lawsuit are not new.

“This is the most recent chapter in an ongoing debate between the state of Utah and the federal government over who should own and control federal lands within the state,” Ruple said.

But all told, this will be “a very difficult claim” for Utah to make, Ruple added, since the U.S. Constitution gives Congress power to control federal land. Plus, when it became a state, Utah specifically gave up any right or claim to federal public lands.

“The [Supreme Court is] under no obligation to take this case up,” Ruple said.

However, leaders like Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, said this issue has been decades in the making – and the time to decide it is now.

“The primary caregiver should be the state of Utah supported by the federal government,” Adams said, “not the other way around.”

Every Utahn carries cherished memories surrounding our great outdoors. For me, nothing is better than hiking outside next to a beautiful stream with kids and grandkids, enjoying the breathtaking beauty of our state. We are deeply connected to the land—it defines us as Utahns. But… pic.twitter.com/IIe7iqqrBY

— President J. Stuart Adams (@JStuartAdams) August 20, 2024

Contributing: Larry D. Curtis, KSL TV