All ears
Monument swap seen as win-win for almost everybody

Bears Ears National Monument – designated in 2016, eviscerated in 2017, restored in 2021 – continues to make news as Congress considers a proposed land exchange aimed at making the national monument whole.

After months of deliberation and negotiations, Utah’s School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA) and the Bureau of Land Management have settled on a land swap that would transfer state lands within Bears Ears National Monument to the federal government.

SITLA will transfer 130,000 acres within the Bears Ears boundaries, plus 30,000 additional acres, to the feds. In exchange, the feds will give the state 163,000 acres of BLM land throughout the state, 52,000 acres of which are in San Juan County.

The swap will eliminate the checkerboard of inholdings within the monument and give the state blocks of parcels that are potentially far more lucrative due to their mineral or real estate development potential. 

For example, the state will receive nearly 30,000 acres in  Lisbon Valley, which is being targeted for uranium, lithium, potash, copper, and oil and gas extraction. Much of the acreage SITLA is acquiring already has active mining claims on it. And SITLA will gain some 7,600 acres in the Shitamaring Creek drainage near the Henry Mountains in Garfield County, Utah. This is another prospective uranium mining area; Anfield Resources and EFR Henry Mountains (Energy Fuels) each have staked dozens of claims on these parcels. 

The transfer should make it easier for the companies to permit mines, state regulations tend to be more lax than those on federal land. But it will also make mining more expensive. Miners on federal land pay zero royalties on the minerals they extract (thanks to outdated mining laws). On Utah land, uranium miners pay an 8% royalty, plus severance taxes. 

The Bears Ears Commission, made up of representatives from the five tribal nations that originally proposed the national monument, supports the exchange. Environmental groups also back it. Initially, members of the San Juan County Board of Commissioners opposed the swap, because most of the gained state lands would be in other counties. But tossing the potentially lucrative Lisbon Valley parcels into the mix helped ease most concerns. 

But not everyone’s happy. Utah State Rep. Phil Lyman, who hasn’t exactly been shy about his disdain for federal land management and Bears Ears National Monument, has come out in strong opposition, telling FOX 13 News’ Ben Winslow that the swap is “of, by and for the environmentalists” and that he intends to sue to stop “this unconstitutional transfer of land.”

 And then there’s the young town of Bluff, Utah, which lies right on the edge of the national monument.

SITLA owns a big chunk of land within the town limits. Because of its proximity to the national monument, most Bluffoons (a term of endearment, I assure you) had hoped the SITLA land in Bluff would be included in the swap and would come under federal management. That would help keep drill rigs, gravel pit expansions, solar energy facilities and real estate developments at bay. 

But not only is SITLA holding onto most of its Bluff land; it is also gaining BLM parcels within the town limits. One of these contains dozens of cultural sites, including a cliff dwelling and petroglyph panels. The others are along the banks of the San Juan River, and the Bluff River Trail passes through them.

This concerns Bluffoons because SITLA’s mission is to generate revenue from these lands by leasing them for grazing, mining and oil/gas drilling, or selling them to developers. This is how a section of Comb Ridge on the western edge of Bluff was privatized in 2016. 

And as if to throw salt in Bluff’s wounds, SITLA has joined a private landowner’s bid to “disconnect” its land – a total of 9,500 acres – from the town of Bluff. If they are successful, the parcels would no longer be subject to Bluff land-use regulations or zoning, which could be detrimental to the community. 

It’s not clear why the state agency wants to hold onto land in Bluff, or why it is taking such an adversarial stance against the tiny community. Maybe it’s because Bluff has a reputation as somewhat of an outlier in the conservative state by generally embracing rather than fighting against Bears Ears National Monument. Maybe it’s because Bluff has tried to hold state land tenants – like a giant gravel pit on the sandstone bench above town – accountable. 

Rep. John Curtis, R-Utah, has introduced a bill that would authorize the exchange. It is expected to move through Congress in the coming months. 

Land Desk is a newsletter from Jonathan P. Thompson, author of “River of Lost Souls,” “Behind the Slickrock Curtain” and “Sagebrush Empire.” Subscribe at: landdesk.org