Way back in Utah's territorial days, political leaders recognized some realities:
With the federal government retaining ownership of about 80 percent of the land, the opportunities to develop those lands into tax-generating enterprises was going to be limited.It was only fair that the federal government provide an alternative. They put four one-square-mile sections of each 36-square-mile township into trust for public education. Other parcels were specified for other uses, but the needs of schoolchildren prompted the bulk of the trust lands.
The idea was to generate income from the land to compensate for the loss of potential taxes. So, if Utah's schoolchildren "own" such a big chunk of the state's total land area, why do you and I pay such high taxes? Why are Utah's numerous children at the bottom of the heap in the per-student expenditure for their education, despite the heroic efforts being made by the tax-paying public? Why did higher education this year receive less than $200,000 from lands specifically set aside to generate revenues for its support?
The answers lie partially in a long history of federal double-dealing and in state mismanagement of the trust lands. The lands have produced a mere pittance of what they might have done with aggressive, education-centered management.
I am told that other Western states that entered the Union under the same situation, with the feds retaining ownership of large land areas, get better returns on their trust lands.
A proposal by the Utah Office of Education that the state's attorney general look into a lawsuit against the federal government could be a first step in the right direction toward resolving these long-standing problems. Whether or not a suit ever comes about, and even if it were not successful, the mere suggestion of a suit could serve to refocus attention on land issues.
The current director of the Division of State Lands and Forestry says there is a new intent at his level to pursue productive uses of the lands under its jurisdiction.
That's good news. For almost a hundred years, there has been a pattern of selling off the lands at pathetically low prices or allowing lease terms that don't generate a fair return for education.
The poor practices of the past in administering the trust lands should be dumped in favor of careful administration that will benefit all Utahns, particularly its schoolchildren.
The land board doesn't operate today in the same atmosphere that earlier boards did. New concerns, such as environmental and historic preservation, have become part of the picture.
These concerns should certainly be considered, but they should not be allowed to unrealistically block land uses that would generate a return for education and the other purposes identified in the trust land concept.
People, including Utah's schoolchildren, should be beneficiaries of Utah's trust lands as intended.