The state of Utah on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against the federal government in an effort to seize control of some 18.5 million acres of land — almost one-third of the state's total area.
The federal government controls about 70% of the land in Utah. Only Nevada, at 80%, has more federally controlled land.
Utah gave up the land under the Utah Enabling Act, an 1894 law that laid out provisions for Utah to become a state. The lawsuit contends that the federal government's indefinite control of the unappropriated public lands is unconstitutional.
In a statement, Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes says, "Nothing in the text of the Constitution authorizes such an inequitable practice. In fact, the Framers of the Constitution carefully limited federal power to hold land within states." He adds, "Current federal land policy violates state sovereignty and offends the original and most fundamental notions of federalism."
But others disagree. Aaron Weiss, deputy director of conservation group the Center for Western Priorities, writes in a press release, "This lawsuit isn't worth the paper it's printed on. 130 years ago, the people of Utah agreed to "forever disclaim all right and title" to national public lands when Utah became a state. What part of 'forever' isn't clear to you, governor? The property clause of the Constitution gives Congress, and only Congress, authority to transfer or dispose of federal lands. That's the beginning, middle, and end of this lawsuit."
The lawsuit is expected to go directly to the Supreme Court.
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