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Work is underway on a land exchange between the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA) and the Interior Department for approximately 135,000 acres of land managed by the state of Utah within the boundaries of the recently restored Bears Ears National Monument.
In October, President Biden signed a proclamation restoring more than 1.1 million acres excised from the monument by President Trump in 2017. The proclamation directed Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to explore an exchange of state in-holdings "for land of approximately equal value managed by the Bureau of Land Management outside the boundary of the monument." President Biden wrote in the proclamation, "Consolidation of lands within the monument boundary through exchange in this manner provides for the orderly management of public lands and is in the public interest."
The Interior Department is working with the state of Utah to facilitate the exchange despite a looming threat of a lawsuit from the governor and the state attorney general challenging Biden's decision to restore the monument to its original size. However, even if Utah's state officials pursue a frivolous and expensive lawsuit using taxpayer money, it won't necessarily halt work on a land exchange, a process that can take years to complete. Marla Kennedy, SITLA's communications director said in a statement to E&E News, "SITLA has a long and successful history of exchanging complex and difficult to monetize trust lands for lands with more significant potential to generate revenue for its trust beneficiaries. These exchanges largely benefit public schools and other beneficiaries and contribute to economic development in communities across the state."
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Updating the federal royalty rate to 18.75% would have a negligible impact on production levels and consumer energy prices, and it could raise up to 
