Utah sues federal government over public lands control

Utah filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against the U.S. government over the control of millions of acres of public land in the state.

The big picture: The lawsuit focuses on the 18.5 million acres of unappropriated public land controlled by the Bureau of Land Management.

• Utah Republicans want the U.S. Supreme Court to decide if the federal government can indefinitely hold unappropriated public land.
• "It's a simple question … and we're hoping the Supreme Court will give us an answer," Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes said during a news conference Tuesday at the state Capitol.

Zoom out: The federal government owns nearly half of the land in the West, per the New York Times , which, for decades, has fueled debates around how that territory should be handled.

• Tuesday's filing is the latest legal action Utah has taken against that control.
• Nearly 70% of the state's lands are managed federally.

Flashback: Utah sued the Biden administration after it restored the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in 2022, reversing a drastic reduction that occurred under former President Trump.

Yes, but: Tuesday's lawsuit does not apply to the nearly 19 million acres of national parks, monuments, forests, tribal lands, wilderness areas or military properties.

• If Utah's lawsuit prevails, which is unlikely , state leaders said they would make the land accessible for the public for recreation, wildlife habitat and conservation purposes, including energy production.

What they're saying: "Utah does not have the ability to manage over two-thirds of our state," Gov. Spencer Cox said. "It is obvious to all of us that the federal government has increasingly failed to keep our lands accessible and properly managed."

The other side: "With [Tuesday's] announcement, Utah has firmly established itself as the most anti-public lands state in the country," per a statement from the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, which strongly opposed the filing.

• The wilderness preservation nonprofit expressed concerns about the possible development and destruction of Utah's landscapes.

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