Rep. Maloy says Utah public lands lawsuit could spark change

Editor’s note: A previous edition of this story incorrectly listed the name of the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest Supervisor as David Whittaker. It has since been updated to properly reflect his name, David Whittekiend. 

SALT LAKE CITY — Following the filing of Utah’s public lands lawsuit, Rep. Celeste Maloy, R-Utah, said it could spark change. The State of Utah is suing the federal government for more control of unappropriated public lands within Utah borders. 

“I don’t know how that lawsuit is going to turn out but … Utahns should have more say in how our land is managed,” said Maloy. 

According to Maloy, regulation has crept into “every aspect” of Utahn’s lives. 

“The difference between their statutory authority from Congress and the way they’re implementing it, is regulation,” said Maloy. 

Often, the authority given to land management agencies, like the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service, is “friendlier” than the regulations they ultimately implement, per Maloy. 

Maloy said that the Supreme Court took a huge step by overturning the Chevron Case. The decision, according to Maloy,  meant “that the court doesn’t owe any deference to an agency’s own interpretation of a statute.” 

A Christmas tree story: Arbitrary regulation or refocused for need? 

“I just talked to somebody this week who wants to cut Christmas trees [in] the forest,” said Maloy. “They’ve been able to do it every year for the last few years and this [land officials] they said ‘no.’ I think those kinds of arbitrary decisions are going to start getting a lot more scrutiny.” 

Maloy did not provide additional details about the Christmas tree story she shared. However, David Whittekiend, the Forest Supervisor for the Uintah-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, said there could have been many reasons that a person could not get a Christmas tree. 

In some cases, there are only a certain number of permits sold for any area in a given year. In other cases, permits may not be available in some areas. 

“It could also possibly be in an area where we used to sell permits and we may have reached the goals that we had for that area,” said Whittekiend. 

Per Whittekiend, the permits serve a few purposes. First, some members of the public enjoy cutting their own Christmas tree. In a more scientific vein, it helps control populations of small trees. 

“Sometimes those [trees] can be encroaching on Aspen stands and out-competing Aspens. Or they may be in areas where we would like to reduce [fire] fuels,” said Whittekiend. 

Maloy said that she believes the Utah public lands lawsuit could prompt more scrutiny of “arbitrary” decisions made by land management agencies. 

Maloy’s Utah public lands lawsuit discussion 

Maloy recently hosted a round table discussion. She explained that one participant works in the food industry. He likened regulations to the ease of getting a tomato onto your kitchen table. 

“He has a graphic he likes to use that shows all the times a tomato gets regulated between when a seed [is] planted and when it’s on your table and it really is ridiculous,” said Maloy. “I think most people don’t realize that those things that are making it tougher to get [the] tomato on your table.” 

According to Maloy, high numbers of regulations cost more and overcomplicate things. 

“We have an opportunity to do a cost-benefit analysis or even just a benefit analysis on all this regulation,” said Maloy. “What are we getting for all of that government process? That’s the conversation that I want to keep going right now.” 

Related: 

• Utah files lawsuit over federal government’s control of unappropriated public lands
• Conservation groups voice opposition to unappropriated public lands lawsuit