Utah lawsuit seeks state control over vast areas of federal land

Associated Press

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah’s attorney general said Tuesday he’s asked to file a lawsuit with the U.S. Supreme Court challenging a federal agency’s control over vast tracts of public land covering about one-third of the state.

The legal action — considered a longshot attempt to assert state powers over U.S. Bureau of Land Management property — marks the latest jab in a long-running feud between states and the U.S. government over who should control huge swaths of the West and the enormous oil and gas, timber, and other resources they contain.

Federal agencies combined have jurisdiction over almost 70 percent of Utah.

The lawsuit seeks to assert state control over about half of that federal land — some 29,000 square miles (75,000 square kilometers), or an area nearly as large as South Carolina. Those parcels are under land bureau management and used for energy production, grazing, mining, recreation and other purposes.

Utah’s world-famous national parks — and also the national monuments managed by the land bureau — would remain in federal hands under the lawsuit.

“Utah cannot manage, police or care for more than two thirds of its own territory because it’s controlled by people who don’t live in Utah, who aren’t elected by Utah citizens and not responsive to our local needs,” Reyes said.

He said the federal dominance prevents the state from taxing those holdings or using eminent domain to develop critical infrastructure such as public roads and communication systems.

University of Colorado law professor Mark Squillace said the lawsuit was unlikely to succeed and was “more a political stunt than anything else.”

The Utah Enabling Act of 1894 that governed Utah’s designation as a state included language that it wouldn’t make any claim on public land, Squillace said.

“This is directly contrary to what they agreed to when they became a state,” he said. The property clause of the Constitution also gives the federal government absolute authority over public lands, he said.

The election-year lawsuit amplifies a longstanding grievance among Western Republicans that’s also been aired by officials in neighboring states such as Nevada, Idaho and Wyoming.

Utah passed a law in 2012 demanding the federal government hand over federally controlled lands by the end of 2014. When that deadline quietly passed, state officials began mounting a legal challenge that has now come to fruition a decade later.

State leaders ultimately scaled down the original vision for a near-total federal land grab, opting to fight for just half of the federal land in the state. They say the parcels are being held by the Bureau of Land Management without designating a purpose.

“Utah’s in the best position to understand and respond to the unique needs of our environment and communities,” said Republican Gov. Spencer Cox. “We’re not trying to privatize this land. We’re actually trying to manage it in a way that will better help the environment.”

Reyes declined to reveal the expected legal expenses but said those would be less than previously projected because the scope of the challenge was pared down, and because they’re trying to go directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Bureau of Land Management spokesperson Brian Hires said the agency would not comment on pending litigation.

Federal lawsuits generally start in district courts before working their way up to the U.S. Supreme Court on appeals. However, the Constitution allows some cases to begin at the high court when states are involved. The Supreme Court can refuse such requests.