Nada Wolff Culver, Principal Deputy Director of the Bureau of Land Management, testified in support of H.R. 3049, known as the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration Exchange Act. The bill seeks to ratify a land exchange between the Department of the Interior (DOI) and the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA).
Under the proposed legislation, the Bureau of Land Management would acquire approximately 162,510 acres of lands managed by SITLA, much of which are located within or near the Bears Ears National Monument. In return, SITLA would acquire roughly 167,012 acres of public lands managed by the BLM located throughout the state of Utah.
The legislation includes a process for post-conveyance appraisal and equalization to ensure that both sets of exchanged lands are of equal value. If an appraisal identifies any disparity in total value, the difference would be balanced through the conveyance of specific state or federal land parcels.
According to Culver, the bill is consistent with both the 2016 and 2021 presidential proclamations regarding Bears Ears National Monument. These proclamations directed the Secretary of the Interior to explore a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the State of Utah to exchange SITLA-administered lands within the monument for BLM-managed lands outside the monument.
The BLM stated that it supports H.R. 3049 because the exchange would promote conservation and appropriate resource management, specifically aiding in the protection of cultural resources and sacred sites within the monument.
The Bears Ears National Monument, located in San Juan County, Utah, consists of approximately 1.36 million acres of public land. These lands contain significant archaeological and cultural records, including evidence of occupation by indigenous peoples for more than 13,000 years.
The monument is considered sacred to several Tribal Nations, including the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Navajo Nation, Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, Hopi Nation, and the Pueblo of Zuni. The area also features geological landmarks such as the Valley of the Gods and Bears Ears Buttes.
The proposed exchange is designed to allow SITLA to acquire lands more suitable for revenue generation to benefit Utah schoolchildren and other trust beneficiaries, while the BLM acquires lands containing sensitive resources. The lands identified by SITLA for conveyance were selected to avoid management conflicts involving wildlife, endangered species, and significant cultural or archaeological sites.
