Supreme Court declines to hear Utah’s lawsuit over public lands
Jan 13, 2025, 12:00 PM | Updated: 6:41 pm

FILE — Gov. Spencer J. Cox, Attorney General Sean D. Reyes, Senate President J. Stuart Adams and House Speaker Mike Schultz talk after a press conference to announce state action for Utah public lands at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024. (Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)
(Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)
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.”