The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a lawsuit from the state of Utah seeking to force the federal government to begin selling or otherwise disposing of about 18.5 million acres of public lands in Utah.

The state’s lawsuit, filed in August, challenged federal control of unappropriated lands within the state. Those lands are administered by the Bureau of Land Management.

The state argued nothing in the U.S. Constitution authorizes the federal government “to hold vast unreserved swathes of Utah’s territory in perpetuity, over Utah’s express objection, without even so much as a pretense of using those lands in the service of an enumerated power.”

The U.S. Department of Justice in late November asked the U.S. Supreme Court to deny Utah’s request, arguing the state’s challenge lacks merit and faces significant jurisdictional and procedural barriers — including bypassing lower courts.

Opposition

The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance filed a lawsuit in December in Utah’s Third District Court alleging the lawsuit violates a provision of the Utah Constitution that the people of the state “forever disclaim all right and title to the unappropriated public lands” lying within its boundaries.

That language was a condition of statehood and is also found within the Utah Enabling Act, which led to Utah’s entry into the Union.

Utah’s governor’s and attorney general’s office did not immediately respond to Capital Press’ request for comment.

Other groups opposing Utah’s challenge released statements supporting the Supreme Court’s denial to consider the case.

“We’re grateful the Supreme Court swiftly rejected the State of Utah’s misguided land grab lawsuit. For more than 100 years, the Supreme Court has affirmed the power of the federal government to hold and manage public lands on behalf of all Americans,” said Steve Bloch, legal director for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

Consequences

“If successful, Utah’s lawsuit would result in the sale of millions of acres of public lands in redrock country to the highest bidder, an end to America’s system of federal public lands, and the dismantling of the American West as we know it,” he said, referring to desert wild lands.

The lawsuit has drawn intense opposition from residents of the West and beyond, sportsmen, and other groups, according to Sierra Club.

“The Supreme Court was correct to reject this unfounded lawsuit. More than a century of legal precedent is clear — it is the role of the federal government to manage public lands for the benefit of all Americans,” said Sanjay Narayan, chief appellate counsel of Sierra Club’s environmental law program.

“This lawsuit and its backers sought to overturn that precedent, giving away public resources for the private profit of big corporations. For more than a century, our parks and public lands have been part of what makes us special as a country, and we will continue to defend the right of all Americans to enjoy and explore those landscapes,” he said.

The Supreme Court’s decision is an embarrassment for the state of Utah, which has already wasted millions of taxpayer dollars on this misguided lawsuit, said Jenifer Rokala, executive director of the Center for Western Priorities.

“Even this staunchly conservative Supreme Court refused to take up Utah’s complaint, likely because it relies on a blatant misreading of the Constitution and would disrupt over a century of legal precedent and property law,” she said.