Land-swap bill is gaining support

WASHINGTON — A bill that would swap 40,000 acres of federal land for 40,000 acres of land managed by the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration has support from the administration and a state environmental group, but some issues still need to be worked out.

Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, testified before a Senate committee Wednesday outlining the bill, and an Interior Department official expressed his support for the legislation.

The bill would exchange the land, but also would ease any potential conflicts on the value of oil shale within the land that is not considered in current appraisals.

If oil shale is contained on the federal land exchanged for what would go to the state, the state would have to pay some of the mineral development rate back to the U.S. government if developed in the future.

Chad Calvert, deputy assistant secretary for Land and Minerals Management at the Interior Department, said this would help eliminate the stigma that the government is "giving away" what could be valuable oil shale. Calvert said the department would like to refine the section a little further, such as setting the rate the state would have to pay or narrow it to specifically include oil shale.

Public Lands and Forests Subcommittee Chairman Craig, R-Idaho, told Bennett the option was "creative on your part."

"We were determined to slay that particular dragon," Bennett said.

Peter Downing, legislative director for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance in Washington, said the important thing now is seeing that final map to know what specific acres get transferred if the bill gets approved.

But Janine Blaeloch, director of the Western Lands Project, does not support the bill. She said changes have been made since Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, introduced the exchange in a House bill, but while it is "a much less egregious bill," it does not work in the best interests of the American taxpayer.

Blaeloch said by going the legislative route versus an exchange administered by the Bureau of Land Management, there will be no environmental assessment done on the land and the public will have less access to the process.

"We need to know what we are gaining and losing," she said. Without an assessment, the public will not know "ecologically and monetarily" what they are trading to Utah.

She also objects to any changes in the regular appraisals that need to be done before land can be exchanged. The idea on paying for oil shale later indicates to her that Utah just wants to buy the land cheap.

"Just do the normal rules," she said.

The bill still needs to be approved at the committee level before it could go to a Senate floor vote.

---

E-mail: suzanne@desnews.com