Strategic land exchanges benefit rural economies, Utah schoolchildren and the environment

This summer, amid lots of other discussion about Western land use policy, Utah School & Institutional Trust Lands (SITLA) is quietly marking the 14th anniversary of the National Parks/Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument Land Exchange, which was the biggest U.S. land transaction since the Louisiana Purchase. Utah just hit the $300 million mark in revenues the exchange has created for the Permanent School Fund and other state and local coffers.

The success of the National Parks/Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument Land Exchange reminds us that we can all agree on some land-use opportunities right in front of us.

A glimpse by Michael Leavitt, at the statewide ownership map of Utah, overlaid by proposed wilderness, quickly illuminates our public land-management challenges. Utah is one of three Western states granted four sections of land in every township by Congress at statehood, with revenues going to Utah schoolchildren.

It created a confusing checkerboard of federal and state land ownership, particularly in rural parts of the state. The mix of high-stakes opportunities for natural resource exploration and world-renowned scenic landscapes is unparalleled. No wonder Utah is ground zero in the entire West for state-federal management conflict.

But the 1998 land exchange cut through the clutter, creating rural economic development opportunities that ultimately benefit Utah schoolchildren. Deseret News