Hundreds of hectares in Wasatch, Summit Counties, bound to Sitla

The heads of state signed and signed a land exchange agreement between the Bureau of Land Management and the Utah Trust Lands Administration on February 22nd and close a loop that started in 2019.

As part of the deal, the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration, also known as Sitla, will receive around 89,390 hectares of land with plots in 18 counties, including Summit and Wasatch.

Cindy Gallo, spokeswoman for the Bureau of Land Management, said that the land exchange with a touch of packages in these 18 counties resembles a “Checkers Board” in these 18 counties. A few smaller pieces (or packages) on this board in the counties Wasatch and Summit are about 730 acres of land that are to Sitla.

The farm exchange became known on site and colloquially as the deal of Emery County and was originally prescribed by John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management and Recreation Act from 2019. Announced on November 14, 2024, the Bureau of Land Management will receive around 116,042 hectares of land with around 109,000 hectares in Emery County.

It is estimated that the entire exchange contains 32 million reconior tons of coal, 2.5 million barrels oil and about 25,900 million cubic feet natural gas.

“Other uses for which these packages may be available include housing development, relaxation, pasture and critical mineral development,” says the press release.

In January of this year, Marla Kennedy, communication director at Sitla, said that they would start an internal planning process to decide what we would like to do with the country as soon as the land exchange was completed.

Chris Fausett, Managing Director of Surface Resources for Sitla, said that the Trust Lands Administration mainly achieved income for public schools in Utah through paths such as real estate development or land sales.

“It only depends on the resources on the property,” said Fausett, adding that there are still many unknown and no “outstanding plans” for most of the country acquired in the Wasatch and Summit districts.

For about 290 hectares near the village of Deer Valley East, these plots are likely to be sold to Extell development. Fausett added that there was no transaction on the table at this point.

If there is a land exchange with BLM, environmental impact studies were usually carried out to see what is possible for the country. She said that an assessment of the property is carried out and various packages are selected on the basis of what companies like Sitla can do with the cultivation area.

“I think this is a good example of an exchange that is advantageous for both sides,” said Gallo from Blm. “This is the state and the federal government, which works in a way that benefits everyone. We have newly created wilderness areas and recreation areas that benefit the recovery, and the state receives plans that you can use for the benefit of young children.”

Sitla in Wasatch

Sitla was founded in 1994 and now holds 3.3 million hectares of trust areas for 12 beneficiaries, including public schools, the University of Utah, Utah State University, Utah State Hospital, several trusts and youth services.

The Trust Lands Administration is recently known for its participation in the Bears Ears National Monument Land Exchange, where Sitla -Land is acted with the federal government against the federal state. This deal fell apart, but it would have been one of six larger country exchanges between the federal government and the Trust Administration.

In cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management, Sitla has completed Landbörsen, including a test and training area of ​​2020 in 2020, in which the Treuhandländer Administration acquired 89,627 Federallands, a leisure center from 2014, at the Sitla 35,516 acres of hectares in the Uintah County and a 2000 -Wüsten exchanges from 2000, on the 106,000 Hectar hectares the Trustland administration went.

A total of 6% of the country in Utah are kept as a country of trust. According to Sitla, 96% of the income from trust areas go for the financing of public education.

The Utah State Board of Education and the Schoolland Trust reported that from 2023 to 2024 $ 1,408,503 of funds at nine schools in the Wasatch County School District. The majority of this sum went to the Wasatch High School, where 407,509 US dollars were available.

During the entire Dingell Act exchange 89,390 ACRES for Sitla about beaver, carbon, emery, Grand, Iron, Juab, Kane, Millard, Rich, San Juan, Sevier, Summit, Summit, Tooele, Uintah, Utah, Washington, Washington, Washington, Wayne, summit and Wasatch comprises, will be set with a total of 730 acres.

Almost 400 hectares are cut in three plots south of Heber City. About 61 acres are located on the border between Wasatch and Summit Counties (Summit County contains a little more than 30 hectares). And about 294 acres sit east of the Jordanelle reservoir.

Gallo said that the packages that went to Sitla were referred to as those who were “more productive” for the country administration.

“Usually it is their goals to use the country to make money for school children in Utah,” said Gallo.

The Dingell Act

“Especially in the Dingell Act, the creation of new recreation and nature reserves in Utah was,” said Gallo.

In the BLM press release sent on February 22nd, the reigning BLM director Jon Raby said that the farm exchange “American energy production, support for local jobs and economies and improvement in recovery experience in utahs” legendary landscapes “.

Both the leisure area of ​​San Rafael Swell and the national nature reserve of John Wesley Powell were part of the new recovery and nature conservation names contained in the Dingell Act. Gallo said that despite Raby's statement that the law will help the state “to play a decisive role in the initiative of President Trump, unleash American energy resources”, the country that receives the Bureau of Land Management “is managed in a way that matches the adjacent countries around them,” said Gallo.

“Where he refers to Trump's initiative to unleash American energy resources, the country that the state receives is,” said Gallo. “The [land] is managed for this type of names in accordance with the rules and regulations. “

In an explanation, the Wilderness Alliance of the southern Utah said that the Dingell Act for areas such as the San Rafael -swell will offer greater protection.

“The proposed bear – -national monument land Exchange has been in the congress for years, and we hope that the political leaders of Utah, who celebrated the land exchange of Dingell Act so cheerfully, will have a similar enthusiasm for the land exchange of the Bears Ohrs about the finish line,” said DC Director of Southern Utah -Wildnis Alliance Travis Hammill in the explanation.

While Sitla has not set any concrete plans for her country acquired, Fausett said that the country administration is pursuing a patient approach in relation to the counties of Wasatch and Summit.

“The majority of it, we'll just hold on,” said Fausett. “And see what options are offered.”

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