- Utah agreed to a $60 million deal with the federal government over 22,311 acres.
- The agreement resolves a long-standing dispute near the Bear River Refuge.
- Funds will support Great Salt Lake projects; Utah seeks additional federal assistance.
Editor's note: This article is published through the Great Salt Lake Collaborative, a solutions journalism initiative that partners news, education and media organizations to help inform people about the plight of the Great Salt Lake.
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah is evidently not done making land transactions in and around the Great Salt Lake.
Utah has reached an agreement with the federal government to cease a long-standing dispute over 22,311 acres near the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge along the Great Salt Lake's northeast edge in exchange for approximately $60 million, state lawmakers said.
Members of the Utah Senate voted unanimously to approve HJR30 Friday night to support the settlement, following a 62-2 vote in the House earlier in the evening, sending it to Gov. Spencer Cox's desk. House Majority Leader Casey Snider, R-Paradise, introduced the resolution Friday morning, the last day of the 2026 legislative session.
Once the deal is finalized, the money would go back toward Great Salt Lake projects, Snider told reporters after introducing the resolution.
"It's a win-win," he said. "We're incredibly grateful for the national attention that this system has on it now. The Trump administration has been so good to us since that announcement was made at the (National Governors Association) event."
It essentially supports a new court settlement that resolves a dispute between Utah and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that has spanned at least two decades. The two sides had squabbled over the land because of changing lake levels over time, and when the refuge was established in the 1920s.
The two sides had agreed on a line about five years ago, but hadn't settled on a price until now. The federal government had previously offered $15 million for the land, said Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper.
It's unclear what led to the change in price, but Utah lawmakers credit President Donald Trump's declaration last month. Trump took to social media last month to declare that he would help "make the lake great again."
"Very important to save the Great Salt Lake in Utah. This is an Environmental hazard that must be worked on, IMMEDIATELY — It is of tremendous interest to me," he wrote.
That came after meeting with Utah leaders, who floated around a $1 billion funding request. Federal agencies have been attentive since then, asking Utah about the lake, Snider said.
"It's happening at a speed that we did not anticipate because of the Trump administration's involvement. We're just incredibly grateful to them," he said, adding that Utah is still hopeful about additional funding.
HJR30 clarifies it's federal land, but it won't change access to the land, added Sen. Scott Sandall, R-Tremonton, the resolution's floor sponsor. He said it will be added to the bird refuge, after Sen. Nate Blouin, D-Millcreek, asked on behalf of a constituent if the land would be used for a different use, like a federal detention center.
"This seems like a good thing," Blouin added, of the benefit it could have on the wetlands.
It's too early to say how the state will use its new money, but Sandall said there will be a process to think about it.
Utah received a $50 million grant from the Bureau of Reclamation in 2024, which was converted into a request for projects that reduce water diversions from the lake or fund short-term or long-term voluntary water donations.
"We're going to think hard and wide about the best things (to use it on). We're going to use as much science as we can to allow us to get the best outcome for that land," he said.
The resolution comes a little more than a month after Utah finalized its $30 million purchase of the old US Magnesium plant along the western edge of the lake that it won in an auction in January. That deal allowed Utah to secure more than 144,000 acre-feet of water rights, including tens of thousands of acre-feet that were still being consumed when the site was closed.
