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

Jan 13, 2025, 12:00 PM | Updated: 6:41 pm

Public lands lawsuit...

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.”

Utah leaders argued the goal of the lawsuit was not to privatize the land but to manage it in a better way for the state.

Opponents of the lawsuit celebrated the news Monday.

“By rejecting Utah’s extremist anti-public lands lawsuit, the Supreme Court sided with longstanding legal precedent and our country’s common natural heritage,” said Taylor McKinnon, southwest director of the Center for Biological Diversity, in a statement. “Sadly, I doubt this will be the last attempt to seize and privatize America’s public lands. But the court’s decision shows that we can win the battle to defend these precious wild places.”

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