Show on Meetings scheduled for state land exchange plan glean Project BOLD Project BOLD the states state's proposed land exchange with the federal government govern govern- government ment of some three million acres is at ata ata a stage where clear alternatives are be- be ing being presented at a series of ten public meetings throughout the state during November Meetings in the local area will be held in Vernal on Nov 18 and in Manila on Nov 17 The meetings will begin at 7 pm at the courthouse in Vernal and at atthe atthe the Daggett County Commission Chambers In Manila The stat state of Utah owns 36 million acres of land and is proposing to ex ex- ex exchange change three million acres of the total for current owned federal lands By ex ex- ex exchanging changing scattered acre sections with the federal government both the State and Bureau of Land Management the federal agency with which the state proposed the exchange will be able to more efficiently manage those lands For Utah this will mean an opportunity to gain greater revenues from the state lands for support of the public schools and to effect some different manage manage- management management ment policies on state lands Decisions made on Project BOLD after these public meetings will shape the final proposal as Project BOLD moves to the State Legislature for support and then Congress for final action Governor Scott M Matheson has assured that existing US rights leases and permits on cur cur- current current rent federal lands will be protected if those lands become state owned Ralph Becker Project BOLD Coor- Coor Coordinator Coordinator for the Department of Natural Resources and Energy said the action taken on the land exchange with the federal government will have str strong ng Int- Int implications affecting individuals govern govern- governmental governmental mental agencies at the federal state and local levels and several of our major in- in industries industries such as agriculture and mining Governor Matheson initiated concep- concep conceptual conceptual discussions with Interior Secretary James A Watt in early 1981 and has been actively supporting Project BOLD by taking the message of the advantages to the state of this project to those organizations which will be the most af- af affected affected by such an immense single land exchange The Governor plans to attend one or more of the November public meetings The Governor Temple A Reynolds Executive Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Energy members of the Board of State Lands and Forestry members of the Project BOLD Steering Committee and Mr Becker will be hearing comments on the alternatives as presented in the just just- released page BOLD publication Mr Becker said we expect this round of public meetings to be extremely pro pro- productive because we h have ve responded to hundreds of earlier comments and have carefully defined alternatives for in in- in individuals divid als and organizations to consider Copies of the publication Project BOLD Alternatives for Utah Land Con Con- Consolidations and Exchange are arc available from the Department of Natural Resources and Energy 1636 West North Temple Salt Lake City Ut UL or from county clerk offices and public libraries throughout Utah Nearly too years after the original land grant gave the state Its isolated sections the land ownership pattern remains nearly The total number of acres is large but due to the surrounding ownership usually the federal govern govern- government ment the state has been severely restricted in management decisions about state lands Over 85 percent of the total land land- landholdings landholdings holdings almost separate parcels of land exist in these isolated acres C square one sections The most severe restrictions are on nearly nea acres of state lund lend which is within na na- na national forests national parks military lands and Indian reservations Federal land use decisions virtually control uses of state land in these cases Frustrating situations with other lands being considered for exchange confront state land managers as they attempt to meet the requirement of the State Con Con- Constitution Constitution for managing state land to generate revenue for the schools For ex- ex example example ample the federal decision on coal leas leas- leasing leasing ing in the Alton coal field in Kane Coun- Coun County County ty has rendered acres of state coal lands and over acres of existing state coal leases as Little has changed since Utah's Statehood in 1896 regarding federal land landownership landownership ownership and it is less likely to change in the future as a result of Congressional action In 1976 Congress passed the Federal Land Policy and Management Act which formally recognized ed a federal policy of land retention Utah has attempted to resolve land problems as they related to the federal government by individual exchange pro pro- proposals proposals This effort has been almost total total- totally ly Iy unsuccessful according to Mr Becker Currently more than 22 ex- ex exchange exchange change applications are pending covering cover cover- covering ing over acres and dating back to June of 1967 The state also has a right to acres of indemnity selections These acres are still owed to the state by the federal government because particular lands were not granted to the state at the time of statehood Twelve applications have been made for these lieu In-lieu selections selections covering acres and dating back 20 years but no grants have been made In early 1981 Governor Matheson and Secretary Watt met to discuss public land policies in Utah Through this and other meetings came a general agree agree- agreement agreement ment on a land exchange of state and federal lands Project BOLD has developed from this Ulis beginning and has several essential ob- ob objectives objectives Foremost is to improve the land management potential of both state and federal lands The proposal seeks to eliminate unnecessary state federal con con- conflicts conflicts generated by existing ownership patterns and to facilitate the manage manage- management ment of state owned lands by substantially realigning the scattered state sec sec sec- sections and creating new blocks of state lands A further benefit made possible by consolidating state landholdings will willbe willbe be to Increase substantially the financial return to the school fund Following complete public review to the BOLD document it is planned to move the proposal to consideration by bythe bythe the State Legislature in January of 1983 1963 After action by the Legislature the final package will be prepared for consideration consideration tion by the US U S Congress Mr Becker said he is seeking focus on two primary issues 1 what lands are appropriate for state acquisition and 2 what legislative and administrative ac- ac actions actions are necessary to assure that ex- ex existing existing rights and uses are protected and that the public will enjoy the maximum benefits from a comprehensive exchange of state and federal lands |