Millard County officials have approached Juab about a proposed swap of state land in the Little Sahara Recreation Site in order to develop a large industrial site near the Juab-Millard county line.
On Monday Robyn Pearson, Millard County administrator, told Juab County commissioners that the state and the Bureau of Land Management, which operates the Little Sahara site, favor the deal.Juab County commissioners said they are interested in cooperating but want to know how the swap would affect the in-lieu-of-taxes money the county collects before approving the plan.
"About two years ago we envisioned a need in our county and we started doing some economic development work," said Pearson.
"There is no park like this in the state of Utah," said Pearson. He said Millard County officials have designed a corridor on land near Brush-Wellman and IPP and have allocated services. The site has two railroad spurs, with two more available if needed, and all other services.
"We have natural gas, roads, rail service, water, telephone service and electric power," said Pearson.
However, much of the 20,000 acres the county would like to develop is BLM land.
The traditional way of getting the needed land would be through an act of Congress, which would take seven years or longer, Pearson said.
If a land exchange could be worked out between the state and BLM, the land would be available for use long before an act of Congress.
Pearson said state sections could be traded for BLM lands. For example, the state and BLM would like to swap four or five state sections in the Little Sahara Sand Dunes.
If those state sections could be put to use, they could earn more money for the schools. "Those sections tied up in the Little Sahara are of little use," said Pearson.
Other lands that could be traded are in the Fish Springs area of Juab County, at Clear Lake and in the wilderness study area along the House Range.
While the proposed development would be in Millard County, two-thirds of the land exchanges would be in Millard County and one-third in Juab County, said Pearson. "They would trade section for section," he said.
"We want the area for large industry to locate," said Pearson. The location would have advantages for Juab County such as jobs.
Pearson said large industries want to be within a day of their markets. That could be achieved both by roads and by rail, which provide access to the California market within one day.
The trade in Fish Springs and Little Sahara would be beneficial because the lands are suited for recreation, and allowing the BLM to manage them would enhance the plan, he said.
Randy Freston, Juab County administrator and engineer, said the county would need to examine mineral lease and in-lieu differences before deciding whether to support the land swap.