State leaders signed and finalized a land exchange agreement between the Bureau of Land Management and the Utah Trust Lands Administration Feb. 22, closing a loop that began in 2019.
Under the deal, the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration, also known as SITLA, will receive about 89,390 acres of land with parcels across 18 counties, including Summit and Wasatch.
Cindy Gallo, spokesperson for the Bureau of Land Management, said that, looking at the map, the land exchange resembles a “checkers board” with a smattering of parcels across those 18 counties. A few smaller pieces (or parcels) on that board in Wasatch and Summit Counties make up about 730 acres of land bound for SITLA.
Known locally and colloquially as the Emery County Deal, the land exchange was initially mandated by the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act of 2019. Announced Nov. 14, 2024, the Bureau of Land Management will get about 116,042 acres of land with about 109,000 acres located in Emery County.
The entire exchange is estimated to contain 32 million recoverable tons of coal, 2.5 million barrels of oil and approximately 25,900 million cubic feet of natural gas, according to a BLM press release from Feb. 22.
“Other uses these parcels may be available for include housing development, recreation, livestock grazing, and critical minerals development,” the release reads.
In January of this year, Marla Kennedy, director of communications for SITLA, said that they would begin an internal planning process to decide “what we may want to do with the land” once the land exchange was complete.
Chris Fausett, managing director of surface resources for SITLA, said that the trust lands administration primarily produces revenue for Utah public schools through avenues such as real estate development or land sales.
“It’s just depending on what resources are there on the property,” Fausett said, adding that, for most of the land acquired in Wasatch and Summit Counties, there are still plenty of unknowns and no “pending plans.”
But, for about 290 acres near Deer Valley East Village, those parcels are likely slated to be sold to Extell Development. Fausett added that there is no transaction on the table at this time.
When there’s a land exchange with BLM, Gallo said, environmental impact studies are typically conducted to see what’s feasible for the land. She said that a valuation of the property is done and different parcels are chosen based on what entities like SITLA would be able to do with the acreage.
“I think this is a good example of a mutually beneficial exchange,” BLM’s Gallo said. “This is the state and federal government working together in ways that benefit everybody … we have newly created wilderness areas and recreation areas that benefit recreators, and the state is getting plans that they can use for the benefit of young kids.”
SITLA in Wasatch
Created in 1994, SITLA now holds 3.3 million acres of trust lands held in trust for 12 beneficiaries, including public schools, University of Utah, Utah State University, Utah State Hospital, multiple trusts and youth services.
The trust lands administration is most recently known for its involvement in the Bears Ears National Monument land exchange, where SITLA land would be traded to the federal government in exchange for federal lands across the state. That deal fell apart, but it would have been one of six larger land exchanges between the federal government and the trust administration.
Working with the Bureau of Land Management, SITLA has completed land exchanges including a 2020 Utah Test and Training Range in 2020 where the trust lands administration acquired 89,627 of federal lands, a 2014 Recreational Land Exchange where SITLA acquired 35,516 acres of land in Uintah County and a 2000 West Desert Land Exchange where 106,000 acres went to the trust lands administration.
A total of 6% of land within Utah is held as trust land. According to SITLA, 96% of revenue generated from trust lands goes to public education funding.
The Utah State Board of Education and the School Land Trust reported that $1,408,503 in funding was provided to nine schools in the Wasatch County School District from 2023 to 2024. The bulk of that sum went to Wasatch High School, where $407,509 was provided.
While the entire Dingell Act exchange includes 89,390 acres bound for SITLA across Beaver, Carbon, Emery, Grand, Iron, Juab, Kane, Millard, Rich, San Juan, Sevier, Summit, Tooele, Uintah, Utah, Wasatch, Washington and Wayne counties, Summit and Wasatch are set with about 730 acres overall.
Just under 400 acres are sectioned across three parcels south of Heber City. About 61 acres sit on the border of Wasatch and Summit counties (Summit County’s total includes just over 30 acres). And about 294 acres sit just east of the Jordanelle Reservoir.
Gallo said that the parcels bound for SITLA were designated as those that would be “more productive” for the trust lands administration.
“Typically, you know, their goals are to utilize the land to make money for Utah school kids,” Gallo said.
The Dingell Act
“Primarily in what the Dingell Act did was create new recreation and conservation areas within Utah,” Gallo said.
In the BLM press release sent on Feb. 22, acting BLM Director Jon Raby said that the land exchange advances “American energy production, supporting local jobs and economies, and improving the recreation experience on Utah’s iconic landscapes.”
Both the San Rafael Swell Recreation Area and the John Wesley Powell National Conservation Area were part of new recreation and conservation designations included in the Dingell Act. Gallo said that, despite Raby’s statement that the act will help the state “play a critical role in President Trump’s initiative to unleash American energy resources,” the lands the Bureau of Land Management is receiving will be “managed in a manner that’s consistent with the contiguous lands around it,” Gallo said.
“Where he’s referring to Trump’s initiative to unleash American energy resources is the lands that the state is receiving,” Gallo said. “This [land] is being managed according to the rules and regulations around those types of designations.”
In a statement, the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance said that the Dingell Act land exchange will provide stronger protections for areas like the San Rafael Swell.
“The proposed Bears Ears National Monument Land Exchange has languished for years in Congress and we hope that Utah political leaders, who have so jubilantly celebrated the Dingell Act Land Exchange, will have similar enthusiasm for getting the Bears Ears Land Exchange across the finish line,” D.C. Director for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance Travis Hammill said in the statement.
While SITLA has not laid out concrete plans for their acquired land, Fausett said that, as far as Wasatch and Summit Counties are concerned, the trust lands administration is taking a patient approach.
“The bulk of it, we’re just going to hold on to,” Fausett said. “And see what opportunities present themselves.”