Federal lands fight continues as session starts

The deadline Utah lawmakers set for the federal government to turn over control of millions of acres of public land passed with the new year. The part-time Legislature convened in Salt Lake City this week to start the 45-day session, and leaders have already expressed a desire to continue a now years-long effort to take control of lands that many argue could be better managed locally and help to generate revenue to fund schools and other services. The state passed a law in 2012 demanding the federal government give up about 31 million acres, or about 50 percent of the total area of the state, by Dec. 31, 2014. The transfer still hasn’t happened though, and the state has yet to move ahead with a proposed lawsuit over the issue. There has been no indication the federal government would agree to such a transfer, and critics have argued that the state has no legal claim to the land. Utah Rep. Ken Ivory, the West Jordan Republican who has spearheaded the state’s efforts, said before the session that he sees the issue as the key to making up for the state’s relatively low per-pupil funding for public education, arguing that the state is limited in its ability to generate funds when it controls little more than a third of the land within its borders. The state would have to raise $2.5 billion in new money to reach the national average, he said, a massive amount in a state where the entire annual budget is expected to be little more than $14 billion. “There’s no other way,” he said. “Just to cover the $2.5 billion gap you’d have to double income taxes, with the assumption that you wouldn’t adversely affect the economy. I mean, you just can’t go there from here.” Republican Gov. Gary Herbert and a majority of state lawmakers have argued that Utah could better manage the lands than the federal government. Most elected officials in Southern Utah have backed the measure, with many municipalities passing resolutions in favor of a transfer...more