Utah's elected officials have an incredibly unpopular lawsuit on their hands.
No, it's not about bringing our new hockey team to the Beehive state, but rather its federal lawsuit attempting to seize Bureau of Land Management acreage that the state houses within its borders. In its original complaint, Utah's AG argued that federal land within state borders should be maintained and controlled by the states, and managed as those states see fit. That sounds somewhat reasonable, that is until you learn that Utah doesn't have the funds nor the will to manage the lands it was attempting to seize control over.
The reality of the situation is that the current crop of elected officials in Utah just wanted to sell off said public lands to developers and mineral and gas conglomerates to make a quick buck. As they've done repeatedly with public lands they do control.
Yet, even though they have a somewhat cooperative Supreme Court, as well as an incoming administration that hates public lands too, the move is deeply unpopular, both among Utah's citizens, the citizens of the other states that signed onto Utah's lawsuit, and public land advocates across the country. It's so unpopular, and groups have hammered these officials so hard, that Utah recently changed its federal lawsuit.
But in doing so, they've also explicitly stated that they want to sell off the land and that it's never been about managing Utah's land.
In its latest filing, Utah's AG Sean D. Reyes argues that instead of Utah asking the Supreme Court to "dispose" of unappropriated federal land to the states, nor sell off said lands, nor require Congress to do so, which its original complaint argued for, instead, the Supreme Court should find that unappropriated federal land, held in perpetuity, be deemed unconstitutional.
In essence, Utah changes course and just asked the Supreme Court to weigh in on whether the constitution allows for public lands at all. At least, that's my read of their new filing. But it couches its language in softer terms, stating "Utah is not ask[ing] this Court to exercise … the power to dispose of public lands, it is simply asking the Court to perform its role as “the ultimate expositor of the constitutional text." Which is exactly the question that anyone uses when they don't have a leg to stand on.
This new filing also truly speaks to the real reasons behind this lawsuit, as well as the fight across our nation to preserve federally-managed public lands, and all public lands in general.
Utah's argument throughout the updated text states that its been harmed by not being able to manage its lands, including financially. "Utah clearly has standing. Utah is undisputedly suffering ongoing injuries in the form of lost tax revenue," one portion states. Further down, "and if this Court holds those policies unconstitutional, there is unquestionably a “substantial likelihood” that the order would relieve Utah’s economic and sovereign injuries."
So you see, it's all about the money. It's never been about managing Utah's land for Utah's people. It's a cash grab and the AG puts it extremely plainly right in the text.
This is where I'm going to implore both Utah's citizens, as well as the disparate groups of those who recreate on public land—hunters, fishermen, UTV'rs, dirt bikers, hikers, campers, birders, snowmobilers, etc—to put aside your differences, come together, and fucking fight this lawsuit. Fight the AG and fight for our public lands. Because if we don't, if we can't just relax with one another and let each other enjoy the outdoors how we want to enjoy them, we risk losing them all to these ghouls.
Here's the address to Utah's AG if you'd like to send them a note: OFFICE OF THE UTAH ATTORNEY GENERAL, P.O. Box 140858, Salt Lake City, UT 84114. Likewise, you can email Reyes' office by directing your email to uag@agutah.gov.
I'd further suggest supporting groups like Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, and countless others fighting to protect everyone's public lands. Because we all lose if this lawsuit goes through.
