Utah leaders filed a lawsuit to take control of 18.5 million acres of unappropriated public land and Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador filed a Friend of the Court Brief on behalf of Idaho supporting this lawsuit.
This lawsuit does not pertain to national parks, national monuments, national forests, tribal lands or military properties. Utah wants to take ownership of unappropriated land without a designation that is managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
Idaho features 12 million acres of unappropriated land which is nearly a quarter of all the land in Idaho. This public land provides a place where anyone can recreate.
"These include going for a dog walk in the Boise foothills, these include river runners on the lower Salmon River, fly fisherman on the South Fork of the Snake, dirt bikers and mountain bikers in the Owyhee Front, snowmobilers and skiers in the Wood River Valley and bird hunters and big game hunters all across southern Idaho," said John Robison of the Idaho Conservation League. "All of these lands are unappropriated."
Attorney General Raul Labrador stated in his Friend of the Court Brief that unappropriated land prevents the state from implementing eminent domain for major projects, it prevents the state from collecting taxes on this land and he wrote that Idahoans lose out revenue from timber, grazing and mining on this land.
Labrador also used the example of the Lava Ridge Wind Project in the Magic Valley as a reason Idaho should own this land. Labrador stated that this project hurts Idahoans by generating power mainly for California and despite opposition there isn't anything the state can do because the project is on federal land.
On Saturday a crowd gathered to protest the lawsuit on the steps of Utah's Capitol. Public land gives people the opportunity regardless of their economic situation to get outdoors. This lawsuit has people worried about the potential of selling off public land to the highest bidder.
John Robison worries that if Utah wins this case Idaho will follow suit and with Idaho's constitutional requirement to balance the budget the unappropriated land would be sold off if the state ever needed to generate revenue.
"Now is the time for Idahoans to speak up on behalf of their public land," said Robison. "If this plan to take over public lands goes through the BLM ranger district offices could eventually become Sotheby’s real estate auction houses."
It's also important to note the difference in public lands. National parks have the strictest rules and regulations in order to preserve the parks, forest service wilderness areas don't allow motorized use and national monuments protect existing rights before the designation.
I like to take a trip to Utah and their national parks are amazing. However, I spend just as much time recreating on BLM land because of fewer rules and regulations. As it stands now everyone can enjoy this land, but John Robison worries that this case could change that.
"There’s a reason Idahoans live in Idaho and not on the east coast or in Texas," said Robison. "We are here because of the access to the public lands, these public lands add immeasurably to our quality of life. Public lands define us as Idahoans and we are fiercely protective of them."
The Supreme Court could rule as early as Monday on whether they will hear this case or send it to a lower court. We will continue to keep you updated as we learn more developments.
