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SALT LAKE CITY — A bill that details the management and disposition of federal lands should they come under state control unanimously cleared a legislative committee Monday.
HB407, sponsored by Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab, would only go into effect should Utah get a federal lands transfer of 250,000 acres or more.
"This is a work in progress," Noel told members of the Senate Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Committee. "It might not happen in 10 years. It may never happen."
The bill would set up the Department of Land Management should Utah get a federal lands transfer of 250,000 acres or more and implement restrictions on the sale or lease of those lands. Land sales would be restricted to 100 acres or less and only if it is determined the land has negligible value for outdoor recreation, including hunting and fishing.
"It is easier to sell public lands under the Federal Land Management Policy Act compared to the Utah Public Lands Management Act," Noel said.
The bill establishes that it is the policy of the state to not sell off public lands — a charge leveled by critics of the lands fight — and any sale would require approval by a majority of legislative members and the governor.
Noel said he wanted to tweak the measure, which was passed last year, to put in more safeguards over the land sale provisions and implement a higher bar for when it would take effect.
The bill is yet another piece of legislation in the move by Utah to wrest control of some 30 million acres of federally managed land within its borders.
In 2012, the Legislature and Gov. Gary Herbert signed off on the Transfer of Public Lands Act, demanding the federal government relinquish title to certain lands or face a lawsuit.
The lawsuit has been put on hold given the change in the White House and optimism by Utah leaders that some other resolution may be possible.
The bill, which passed in the House 54-12, now goes to the full Senate. Email: amyjoi@deseretnews.com Twitter: amyjoi16
