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Lawmakers in Utah approved a land swap to consolidate 160,000 acres of land in Bears Ears national monument. The swap would give the state school trust agency, SITLA, 165,000 acres of federal land with more economic potential to fund Utah schools.
SITLA's executive director, Michelle McConkie, stressed that the deal lets Utah trade out scenic and archaeologically-rich land that brings in very little revenue today, and in exchange gain land that is more easily monetized.
“Moving these parcels from federal ownership to SITLA ownership would give many communities across the state opportunities for economic development they would not otherwise have, in addition to allowing the trust to maximize its mandate and make money for the schoolchildren of the state.”
The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance supports the exchange, but it would like to see 17,000 acres of wilderness land dropped from the deal.
"It's clearly going to result in better management for the sacred and cultural sites within the monument. However, the devil will be in the details and we are concerned about some of the lands that School Trust Lands proposes to acquire in the exchange," Steve Bloch, SUWA's legal director, told FOX 13 News. "We’re adamant SITLA has to do better in what’s acquired and what’s developed."
The legislative approval comes with a one-year sunset provision. The swap will be off if President Biden doesn't sign a bill into law by May 17, 2023.
Top 5 oil companies raked in $35 billion while Americans pay more at the pump
America's five largest oil companies—Shell, ExxonMobil, BP, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips—made more than $35 billion in profits in the first three months of the year, according to a new analysis from the Center for American Progress. That is more than triple their combined profits compared to the first quarter of 2021. CAP's analysis found that instead of using these windfall profits to make investments to lower gas prices for consumers or to fulfill their climate pledges, oil companies are giving the profits away to wealthy shareholders in the form of stock buybacks, or giving it to themselves as executive bonuses.
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We can’t change the past. We can’t change the experience of assimilation. But what we can do is restore land to 
