LOCAL NEWS

Supreme Court declines to hear Utah’s lawsuit over public lands

Jan 13, 2025, 10:22 AM | Updated: 10:28 am

Gov. Spencer J. Cox, Attorney General Sean D. Reyes, Senate President J. Stuart Adams and House Spe...

FILE — Gov. Spencer J. Cox, Attorney General Sean D. Reyes, Senate President J. Stuart Adams and House Speaker Mike Schultz talk after a press conference to announce state action for Utah public lands at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024. (Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)

(Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)

SALT LAKE CITY — The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a lawsuit seeking the return of millions of acres of public lands to the state of Utah.

In a notice Monday, the high court denied the state’s petition that was filed back in August. The state asked the justices to decide whether 18.5 million acres of unappropriated land could come back to be managed by Utah.

“While we were hopeful that our request would expedite the process, we are disappointed in the Supreme Court’s decision not to take up this case,” said Gov. Spencer Cox, House Speaker Mike Schultz, Senate President Stuart Adams, and Attorney General Derek Brown in a joint statement to KSL TV. “The Court’s order does not say anything about the merits of Utah’s important constitutional arguments or prevent Utah from filing its suit in federal district court.”

Utah leaders argued the goal of the lawsuit was not to privatize the land but to manage it in a better way for the state.

Opponents of the lawsuit celebrated the news Monday.

“By rejecting Utah’s extremist anti-public lands lawsuit, the Supreme Court sided with longstanding legal precedent and our country’s common natural heritage,” said Taylor McKinnon, southwest director of the Center for Biological Diversity, in a statement. “Sadly, I doubt this will be the last attempt to seize and privatize America’s public lands. But the court’s decision shows that we can win the battle to defend these precious wild places.”

“We’re grateful the Supreme Court swiftly rejected the State of Utah’s misguided land grab lawsuit,” added Steve Block, legal director at the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. “For more than 100 years, the Supreme Court has affirmed the power of the federal government to hold and manage public lands on behalf of all Americans.”

For their part, Utah leaders vowed to continue the fight.

“Utah remains able and willing to challenge any BLM land management decisions that harm Utah,” they said in the statement. “We are also heartened to know the incoming Administration shares our commitments to the principle of ‘multiple use for these federal lands and is committed to working with us to improve land management.”

In some respects, the Supreme Court’s decision is not surprising as University of Utah law professor John Ruple predicted in August the state’s lawsuit would face a high bar. Ruple said the U.S. Constitution gives Congress power to control federal land, and Utah specifically gave up any right or claim to federal public lands when it became a state in 1896.

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Supreme Court declines to hear Utah’s lawsuit over public lands