Senate committee advances proposal to transfer Forest Service land to Utah ski resort

WASHINGTON — The small ski town of Brian Head, Utah, could get a tiny bit bigger after the Senate Energy and National Resources Committee advanced a bill transferring two dozen acres of federal land to be used for public purposes.

The bill was approved in a unanimous voice vote on Wednesday after days of back-and-forth between Chairman Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Sen. Martin Heinrich, the top Democrat on the committee, to include language restricting what the land could be used for. The proposal will now go to the full Senate for a vote, although timing on that is not yet clear.

Lee described Brian Head as a “mostly sleepy ski town,” but one that pulls above its weight during the busy ski season. The town is home to only 151 permanent residents but can see more than 300,000 visitors each year, putting what Lee calls an “enormous strain” on the local infrastructure.

As of now, the town stores essential equipment outside, which has resulted in wear and tear over the years, according to Lee. The bill would aim to remedy that by transferring 24 acres of Forest Service land to expand and modernize the public works facility.

“It’s a targeted solution to a well-documented, undisputed problem, a problem that the Forest Service agrees exists, and a solution that the Forest Service supports,” Lee said on Wednesday.

But Heinrich raised concerns about the proposal after the initial draft failed to include what is known as a reversionary clause, which would mandate the public land be returned to the federal government if it is used for a purpose other than what was originally stated. Those clauses are standard for these kinds of land transfers.

Without that language, the top Democrat worried the land could be transferred for commercial or private use but without any payment. Heinrich entered into negotiations with Lee, resulting in an amendment to insert the reversionary language in exchange for the Democrat’s support.

“I would support the Brian Head Town Land Conveyance Act on Wednesday if it ensured that the public land would be used for a public purpose,” Heinrich said ahead of the vote. “My view is pretty straightforward here: public lands belong in public hands.”

However, conservation groups are ringing alarm bells that the bill still contains “vague standards” for how the land can be used with “no effective mechanism” to enforce the restrictions. Groups have also raised concerns the proposal does not require any financial compensation or land exchange to pay for the transfer.

“Sen. Lee failed this summer with his large-scale efforts to sell off public lands, so now he’s trying to give them away parcel by parcel,” Travis Hammill, D.C. director for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, said in a statement. “This legislation would set a precedent for future attempts to give away public lands without public input, appropriate compensation, environmental review, or other important legislative components. Public lands are an invaluable part of our nation’s shared heritage — not an item to be given away piecemeal by Senators.”

The bill was co-sponsored by Utah Sen. John Curtis who, in a May press release first announcing the bill, said it “gives local officials the tools they need … to meet their community’s growing needs.”