State, feds reach agreement on massive land swap meant to benefit Utah schools
Nov 15, 2024, 1:20 PM
Eagle Canyon in the San Rafael Swell in Emery County on Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019. (Jeffrey D. Allred/Deseret News)
(Jeffrey D. Allred/Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY — State and federal officials agreed this week to swap more than 200,000 combined acres of Utah land. The agreement has been years in the making and state officials say it will benefit Utah’s schools.
The agreement will give the Bureau of Land Management control over more than 116,000 acres. Much of that is in Emery County, as well as parcels of land in Grand, Uintah, Washington and Wayne Counties.
The Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration, or SITLA, will take control over more than 48 parcels of land at more than 89,000 acres combined.
The majority of the land going to the state is in Juab and Emery Counties. The state will also receive parcels in Beaver, Carbon, Iron, Kane, Millard, Rich, San Juan, Sevier, Uintah, Summit, Tooele, Utah and Wasatch Counties.
Utah land swap will benefit schools
“We’re trading out of land that has great recreational and scenic value, which is wonderful but not really our mandate. Our mandate is to make money for Utah school kids,” SITLA Director Michelle McConkie told KSL NewsRadio.
McConkie said they expect the new land to generate hundreds of millions of dollars for Utah schools in coming years.
“There’s critical mineral potential on the land that we’re picking up. Things like lithium, copper, gold, silver. So these are all minerals that can be extracted and sold.”
The deal was done in accordance with the Dingell Act.
The act “consists of more than 100 individual bills that were introduced by 50 Senators and several House members, including Utah’s Emery County Public Lands Management Act,” the BLM’s website said.
Utah Senator-elect John Curtis reacted to the news in a statement which reads, “The Emery County Land Bill represents the largest transfer of federal land back to the state in Utah’s history,” Curtis said.
“This bipartisan legislation embodies the principle that local communities know best how to manage their own lands, and how good policy is delivered…I’m pleased we’re a step closer to seeing this bipartisan legislation fully realized,” the statement continued.
McConkie said the deal is expected to be finalized in early 2025.
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