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Despite Monumental Backlash, Utah's Legislature Still Wants to Sell Public Land

I surmise that I sound like a broken record at this point, but the vast majority of the public believes that our public lands should remain in public hands. They should not, under any circumstances, be sold off to property developers, mineral and gas industries, or any other form of extractive companies. They are, in fact, this nation's greatest resource. 

It remains the sole issue that unites the left, right, and independents, and what unites the hunters, campers, anglers, off-roaders, hikers, climbers, motorcyclists, and every other outdoor recreation group in between. You couldn't ask for a more unifying issue if you tried to come up with one. 

Yet, policymakers both in Washington, D.C., and within state legislatures just can't seem to let their plans to sell off those lands to the highest bidder die. I have my suspicions as to why, but for now, while outdoor recreators not only beat back the plans put forth by the House of Representatives, as well as the Senate, and found an unlikely ally in the Supreme Court, politicians are already gearing up to try and steal our public lands, with my home state of Utah being the epicenter for the movement. 

Which, again, doesn't make a lick of sense. But here we are, so gear up for another fight. 

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After Senator Mike Lee, who remains a Captain Planet villain in every sense of that description, failed in his quest to sell our public land through the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," he stated he wouldn't give up his fight to see all federally managed public land sold. And, indeed, over his tenure within Utah and national politics, he's done everything he could to see land sold off, including petitioning the Supreme Court, as mentioned earlier. 

And through the state, Lee and his allies had funded a massive disinformation campaign (they recently had to admit so much in court) meant to sway public opinion on federally managed public lands. But while he's been beaten at each turn, Lee and those allies have vowed to not stop. 

"Would we like to bring them under state management? Absolutely," says Redge Johnson, Utah's director of Public Land Policy Coordinating Office to The Salt Lake Tribune, adding, "because we think we can give better guidance." That's always been, and always will be, their pitch, i.e. letting states manage public lands. But there are guidelines and laws that states must adhere to when managing state public lands, and the biggest is that they must get a return on investment. One that's seen directly in the ledgers, not indirectly through recreational activities. As well as laws on what you can and can't do on those same lands, some of which including barring anyone from shooting firearms or camping. 

Per Utah's own page on state trust lands, which is what they want our public lands converted to, "Trust Lands are not public lands. However, public access to Trust Lands for hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, off-highway vehicle riding, and other recreational activities is allowed in limited areas. Permits may be required for some activities." That all sounds well and good, as some activities are permitted. But it's only a very small percentage of those lands that we, the public, can access. Yet, it's the following line that really gives up the plan, with Utah stating, "The Trust Lands Administration has a constitutional mandate to preserve the value of Trust Lands to ensure our beneficiaries receive the revenue they are rightfully due."

"Revenue they are rightly due," which means sold off to the highest bidder, not preserved for you and me. 

So when Mr. Johnson states that "We think we can give better guidance," he's blatantly saying that he thinks they can cut a better deal with developers and/or mineral and gas companies compared other the federal government, and he's using the public's real ire of the management of said federal lands—something I think we can all agree could be bettered in real big ways—to pretend they're doing it for those reasons. 

And again, the big lie, one that I'll continue to harp is a lie, is that they're all doing this to build affordable housing. Folks, the problem isn't that we don't have enough housing stock. We've got plenty of it across the nation. It's that people can't afford it because of stagnated wages, investors and private equity buying up homes to make a fast buck at the expense of the American people, and high interest rates with big-time inflation caused by a variety of reasons. We have enough houses, we don't need more. We need to address the real problems, but politicians don't want to as it would affect their donations and campaign reelections. 

That goes for both sides of the aisle, too. 

I, however, remain steadfastly bullish on the protection of our public lands. Why, because we have a number of excellent outdoor groups fighting on our behalf. Groups like Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, The Wilderness Society, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, the Outdoor Industry Association, the Sierra Club, and so many more. Likewise, average hard-working Americans showed the hell up when it counted the most, as when Lee was doing his best to sneak in public land sales into the reconciliation bill, we called our representatives, we emailed, faxed, and showed up at their offices. We wrote to them and demanded they represent our interests, i.e. that public lands remain ours and ours alone. And it worked. 

As for Utah's legislature, here's how you can contact your representatives and tell them that public lands are the best thing about this nation. They give access to views that nowhere else can give. And respite for when we need it. They cannot, and should not, be sold off just to make some fast cash. We'd be a far lesser country without them. 

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