Nearly six years after it was authorized by Congress, an historic land transfer finally took place late last month between the state of Utah and the federal government. The Utah Trust Lands Administration (TLA), the state agency constitutionally mandated to generate revenue for public schools and other state entities, took possession of more than 89,000 acres in the state in fulfillment of the John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management and Recreation Act of 2019, signed into law by Pres. Donald Trump on March 12, 2019, during his first administration. The act passed both the House and the Senate with broad bipartisan support.
Michelle McConkie, executive director of TLA, was on hand, along with along with Gov. Spencer Cox and U.S. Sen. John Curtis, as U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum officially transferred title to the land to Utah.
Originally introduced by Curtis when he was in the House, and former U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, as the Emery County Public Land Management Act, the negotiated exchange was spearheaded in Utah by Emery County officials and stakeholders and eventually became part of the Dingell bill.
“It has taken over five years and countless hours by dedicated Trust Lands employees to see this act through,” said McConkie. “I’m proud of the work we’ve done and excited for the opportunities it will bring to our state.”
The exchange involves 18 counties and over 89,000 acres conveyed to Trust Lands. The lands are located in Beaver, Carbon, Emery, Grand, Iron, Juab, Kane, Millard, Rich, San Juan, Sevier, Summit, Tooele, Uintah, Utah, Wasatch, Washington and Wayne counties.
“The land we are picking up from the federal government is a massive benefit for Utah. This land has a major energy-producing potential and contains deposits of critical minerals,” said Chris Fausett, managing director of the Surface Resources Group at TLA. “It will help us secure Utah’s energy future while providing much-needed economic development opportunities in rural Utah.”
“The revenues from these parcels will directly benefit public schools in the state,” said Mike Johnson, chief legal counsel for TLA, who helped draft the bill’s language. “Land exchanges with the federal government are critical for us. The scattered nature of Trust Lands parcels often makes them challenging to develop, which makes our constitutional mandate to generate revenue for our beneficiaries even more complicated. We hope to see more of them soon.”
The Trust Lands Administration manages 3.3 million acres of land in Utah for the benefit of state institutions, primarily schools. The arrangement was authorized by the U.S. Congress in colonial times and renewed numerous times as states entered the union. Utah’s TLA was created by the state Legislature in 1994.