WASHINGTON COUNTY, Utah — Folk singer Woody Guthrie sang about this being your land and this land being my land, but the dispute over who owns public land in Utah is back in session.
In a new Politico report, Utah Sen. Mike Lee (R) said “yes” when asked if he would revive a proposal to sell off public land in southern Utah. The same proposal, co-sponsored by Utah Congresswoman Celeste Maloy (R), didn’t survive in the House as an amendment to what’s been called the “Big, Beautiful Bill.”
"I’m not surprised," said Steve Block, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance legal director. "We're definitely concerned. Senator Lee is the chair of Senate Natural Resources Committee, and when somebody in that position moves forward with any amendment like this, it makes sense to take it seriously.
Lee did not respond to a request from FOX 13 News for comment, but his office released a statement. Among other things, it said Lee remains committed to advancing Western priorities and ensuring that those who live closest to the land have a voice in how it’s managed.
Lee has said in the past that too much of Utah’s land remains in federal hands and claimed, “that is a recipe for disaster.”
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Advocates like Block say selling off public lands will be a detriment to those who live and come to southern Utah for the great outdoors.
"If you're over in Santa Clara and you want to go to the Santa Clara River Reserve … those trailheads may no longer be public land," he said Tuesday. "...there could be a fence across it that says no access."
Maloy had no comment about a possible revival of the bill. She previously told FOX 13 News that the proposal is designed to sell much of the acreage to the Washington County Water Conservancy for pipelines as part of a water storage and reuse system.
"Washington County is over 80% federal land," Maloy said last month. "So in order for the cities and towns in Washington County to be able to function, sometimes we have to move borders on the federal land to create connectivity. What we included in this reconciliation bill is a third of 1% of the federal land in Utah."
Block believes there are already laws on the books that allow a federal agency to provide for such a use.,
"There are management plans in place for Washington County, for example, that the Bureau of Land Management has already prepared that identify certain tracts of land as a starting point for discussion about land disposal."
