A Utah-based environmental advocacy group is suing the state, alleging that its lawsuit seeking control of federal public land violates the state constitution.
In August, Utah sued the federal government over 18.5 million acres of public lands in the state, which it calls “unappropriated lands.” The Bureau of Land Management oversees these lands, which are not part of the national parks or forest system, nor are they used for other federal purposes, like the postal service or the military. Utah asked the Supreme Court to hear the case, bypassing lower courts.
A lawsuit filed on Wednesday, December 18 by the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) says Utah’s lawsuit violates its own constitution, and the terms of its statehood.
SUWA’s legal director Steve Bloch outlined the group’s case during a press conference.
“When Utah first entered the union in 1896, the citizens of this state forever disclaimed their right to federal lands in Utah,” he said. “That was a part of the bargain at statehood. And our case filed this morning seeks to enforce that commitment.”
Furthermore, Bloch said, Utah’s case says that SCOTUS may decide to give control of the land to Utah, but there’s no guarantee that would happen. SUWA envisions a much different outcome — one with implications for public lands beyond state lines.
“The Supreme Court would order the federal government to start disposing of or selling off these lands to the highest bidder,” he said. “There are more than 200 million acres across the west that are at risk, and they would suffer the same fate if Utah were to be successful.”
Bloch and SUWA fear that the BLM could be forced to sell off public lands in other states in that case.
In an interview with Rocky Mountain Community Radio, Bloch said Utah’s lawsuit ties in closely with the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante National Monuments. First designated by presidents Obama and Clinton, respectively, President-Elect Trump shrank both monuments during his first term. Biden restored both monuments to their original sizes. Utah officials now want the monuments to return to their sizes under Trump.
“The millions of acres of lands that they want to see removed from those monuments would fall into their bucket of ‘unappropriated lands,’” he said.
“If Utah were to be successful — that it is unlawful for the federal government to retain unappropriated lands — there’s no reason to think that that ruling is limited to Utah,” he said. “Many other states — Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Idaho — have similar language, when they entered statehood, enshrined in their enabling acts and into state law, so a ruling in Utah’s favor would apply to all the western states.”
“Regardless of any past efforts to dispose of these unappropriated lands, the State of Utah is (and, for well over a decade, has been) actively seeking to gain ownership and full sovereign jurisdiction over them so that it may responsibly manage these vast lands for the benefit of all Utah citizens, on terms of constitutional equality with States east of the Rockies,” Utah’s motion to the Court reads.
In its prayer for relief, Utah asks the Court to, “order the United States to begin the process
of disposing of its unappropriated federal lands within Utah, consistent with existing rights and state law” and to “grant the State of Utah such other relief as the Court deems just and proper.” It does not explicitly ask the Court to transfer control of the 18.5 million acres to Utah.
Utah’s case acknowledges that the federal government generates revenue from these lands, through oil and gas and mineral leasing, grazing permits, filmmaking, and other avenues. SUWA argues these lands are important for Utahns’ way of life, and include some of the nation’s most iconic landscapes.
“Places like Labyrinth Canyon or the Dirty Devil, Nine Mile Canyon, the Fisher Towers outside of Moab or the Deep Creek Mountains,” Bloch said. “And there are countless other camping spots for families or places to fish or hunt or hike or rock climb that are all at risk right now.”
In addition to SUWA’s lawsuit, the federal Department of Justice has asked the Supreme Court to dismiss the case. In a brief to SCOTUS, Solicitor General Elizabeth Pregolar argues that Utah’s case lacks merit: she writes that under the constitution, only Congress can sell federal lands, and SCOTUS cannot order Congress to do so.
SCOTUS won’t decide whether to hear Utah’s case until next year. Bloch said on Wednesday that SUWA’s lawsuit is contingent on that outcome.
“If lightning strikes, and Utah is able to pursue their case, then we're obviously going to move full speed ahead with ours,” he said. “If the Supreme Court tells the state that they need to refile in federal district court, you know, we're going to stick with our case here as well.”
The Utah Attorney General’s Office says it does not comment on pending litigation.