House unanimously passes Utah land-swap bill

The House of Representatives passed a bill Wednesday to preserve some wild and scenic Utah school trust lands by swapping them for less-beautiful federal lands where oil and gas development is possible — which could generate money for Utah schools.

The House passed the Utah Recreational Land Exchange Act sponsored by Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, by a 423-0 vote.

If it is also passed by the Senate, the bill would authorize exchanging about 40,000 acres of school trust lands for similar acreage of U.S. Bureau of Land Management parcels. The school lands are scattered in checkerboard fashion amid federal land, complicating management by both the state and federal governments.

The school lands that the BLM would receive are in Grand, San Juan and Uintah counties. They include portions of several wilderness study areas, the Westwater Canyon, the Kokopelli and Slickrock trails, several natural rock arches and other areas that environmental groups would like protected as wilderness.

In exchange, the Utah School Institutional Trust Land Administration would receive BLM lands with potential oil and natural gas deposits that could be developed to produce money for schools.

School trust lands are, by state law, supposed to be managed in ways to maximize money they raise for schools from such things as mining or oil or livestock leases, but much of the land in the bill is in scenic areas that many would like to see preserved and not developed.

"This bipartisan bill is the result of consensus among a broad, diverse group of stakeholders," Matheson said. "The result is a proposal that is fair to the taxpayer, beneficial to Utah school children, mindful of hunting … and a better configuration for land managers to protect habitat, watershed and recreational values."

The bill received little debate, with Republican and Democratic floor managers simply explaining the bill briefly with no one speaking in opposition.

Delegate Madeleine Bordallo, D-Guam, told the House, "Many land exchanges in Utah have been controversial in the past, but by working with all of the stakeholders affected by this exchange, this bill now enjoys broad support."

Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, noted that similar bills had been passed by the House in the previous two Congresses, but had not also passed the Senate.

The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.

E-mail: lee@desnews.com