The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday stopped Utah鈥檚 long-shot public lands lawsuit in its tracks. It's the latest rejection in a decades-old fight to turn control of federally managed lands over to states.
Public lands advocates quickly celebrated the decision. They worried that allowing Utah鈥檚 case to move forward could threaten to upend the management of 200 million acres of public lands across the West, potentially giving way to the sale of public lands to private entities.
鈥淲e鈥檙e grateful the Supreme Court swiftly rejected the State of Utah鈥檚 misguided land grab lawsuit. For more than 100 years, the Supreme Court has affirmed the power of the federal government to hold and manage public lands on behalf of all Americans,鈥� said Steve Bloch, the legal director for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.
The organization filed its own lawsuit against state leaders in district court, arguing Utah鈥檚 claims violate the state constitution.
Utah's lawsuit specifically targeted 18.5 million acres of public lands 鈥� about a third of the state 鈥� managed by the Bureau of Land Management and are not designated as wilderness, parks or monuments. It argued that it鈥檚 unconstitutional for the federal government to hold onto those 鈥渦nappropriated鈥� lands indefinitely.
鈥淭his egregious federal overreach cannot continue,鈥� the state wrote in its initial filing, arguing that the government should begin the process to 鈥渄ispose鈥� of the lands.
In a statement Monday, state officials, including Gov. Spencer Cox, said they were "disappointed" the Supreme Court declined to hear the case.
However, they noted that after lodging this special petition directly with the Supreme Court, Utah could now take its claims to a lower court.
"The Court鈥檚 order does not say anything about the merits of Utah鈥檚 important constitutional arguments or prevent Utah from filing its suit in federal district court," the statement read.
While public lands advocates expressed relief over the ruling, they cautioned that disagreements over federal land management would continue, whether in the courts or Congress.
"Today is a victory in terms of the future of public lands," said Michael Carroll, the Bureau of Land Management campaign director for the Wilderness Society. "But the fight is far from over."
Several other states, counties and lawmakers backed Utah, including the states of Wyoming, Idaho and Alaska, the Arizona legislature, a handful of counties in New Mexico and U.S. Senators Mike Lee and Mitt Romney from Utah.
In response, the Biden Administration鈥檚 Department of Justice said the state鈥檚 petition 鈥減lainly lack[ed] merit,鈥� and that Utah gave up the rights to the federal lands within its boundaries when it joined the union in 1896. The Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation also joined in opposing Utah鈥檚 case.
This story was produced by the Mountain West 暗黑爆料 Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West 暗黑爆料 Bureau is provided in part by the .
