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The State of Utah – led by Governor Spencer Cox, Attorney General Sean Reyes, and the Utah State Legislature – is seeking control of 18.5 million acres of lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) that Utah defines as “unappropriated.” The State’s aim is to have the U.S. Supreme Court rule that these lands cannot be held indefinitely by the federal land management agency so that Utah may ultimately gain control. 

If Utah gains control of these 18.5 million federal public land acres, these resources would be forever removed from the federal public lands system, erasing all management precedent. This also sets an extremely dangerous precedent, opening the door for hundreds of millions of acres nationwide to be stripped from the American public. 

Every American holds an equal claim to our nation’s public lands and waters, but it’s our responsibility to protect this shared heritage. If we fail to act, those who aim to seize, sell, or transfer our children’s inheritance for private profit will succeed, leaving future generations with nothing but memories of what was lost. We must stand together now to ensure that our legacy of stewardship endures.

If successful, this lawsuit would allow for increased privatization and development of public lands.

Elected officials in Utah have long sought to rip America’s public lands from public hands with the express intent of increasing industrial development, real estate development, and privatization. 

• Former Rep. Jason Chaffetz’s (R-UT) Disposal of Excess Federal Lands Act would have sold over 3 million acres of public lands. This was withdrawn following an outcry from hunters, anglers, and outdoor recreators, resulting in an apology from the Congressman. 
• Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) has spent his career pursuing the transfer of federal public lands to state and private ownership, including the HOUSES Act, which would streamline the transfer of public lands for real estate and commercial development. 

Despite state officials’ claims, transferring control of public lands does NOT guarantee they will remain public. 

• History has proven that state-managed lands are often sold off or leased to private interests.  

• Federal land management agencies have successfully stewarded these lands for over a century, balancing conservation, recreation, and resource development under a multiple-use mandate. There’s no reason to fix what isn’t broken and removing them from management by the BLM under the Federal Land Management and Policy Act (FLPMA) entirely overhauls decades of precedent.  

• The state legislature could at any time rewrite the laws managing state-owned lands to convey the interests of development and privatization. 

A Dangerous Precedent 

• If Utah’s lawsuit is successful, it would set a dangerous precedent for other states to follow, leading to the fragmentation and privatization of public lands across the nation. 

• The definition of “unappropriated” public lands as defined by the State of Utah totals approximately 210 million acres across the western United States. The state defines "unappropriated" federal lands to exclude national parks, monuments, forests and wilderness areas (see map below). 

State management of federal public lands isn’t economically feasible or responsible 

• Transferring public lands to state ownership ignores the economic realities of managing these lands, such as costs associated with wildfire and range fire prevention, road maintenance, and other infrastructure. These costs threaten to bankrupt states, forcing them to eventually sell our public lands to cover the costs. 

• Ambiguity regarding the disbursement of royalties for oil and gas leasing and other revenue generated from development casts doubt over whether Utah would have ANY economic ability to manage additional public lands. Without 100% of the revenue, Utah is incapable of covering the costs of managing public lands.