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

 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.”