There are people who think the federal government gave away the store.
And there are others who believe Utah got short shrift in a huge land agreement that officials say ends years of conflict.Several Utah lawmakers said Thursday they want to see the bottom line.
"I think people should be aware that there are some concerned folks out here, and this may not be a squeaky clean deal," said Rep. Bill Hickman, R-St. George.
Utah lost thousands of acres in a deal signed Friday by Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt and Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt. And several state lawmakers, including House Speaker Mel Brown, say they have not seen figures about the values of the lands traded.
Those details will be forthcoming in a formal proposal to Congress later this month, said Dave Terry, director of Utah's School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration.
The school trust lands board of directors was poised to approve the agreement in a meeting Thursday, Terry said.
But it's not clear, said Brown, R-Union, whether Utah wins or loses in the deal.
"I think it's accurate to say that before this thing is finally approved, we want to see these
values and see how this thing was put together."
Much of these details are part of the negotiations and are still under tight wraps, Terry said.
Utah's School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration oversees 3.7 million acres of land called school trust lands - property the federal government gave to Utah when it became a state.
Trust lands were established to benefit Utah schools and other public institutions, but until recently the lands were managed more to benefit livestock operators and mineral interests.
Last Fridays's agreement was reconciliation for thousands of trust land acres locked inside national parks, monuments and Indian reservations.
"We've been sacrificed in the deal," said Rep. Tom Hatch, R-Panguitch.
It may be a good swap for Utah, Hatch says, "But for the people in this area - we're really getting the shaft.
"We'd always hoped we could leverage those trust lands for the benefit of our local economies. What the governor has done is taken that opportunity away forever."
Hickman urged the trust lands board to go slowly.
Leavitt said Thursday that the people closest to the trust lands have decided this is a good deal.
And they've taken their time.
"It's hard to imagine a slower approach than 25 years," he said.
The agreement was made with the involvement of the trust lands board and its technical staff. "Those who know the land best feel confident that we are getting the best value.
"I feel very good about the deal."
The board of directors for the school trust lands tion met Thursday in Moab to discuss the deal.
"We're for the deal. We're obviously trying to convince the board to go along with it," said Dave Hebertson, school trust lands spokesman.
The board will vote either to ratify the agreement, reject or defer action.
"We're worried we may be throwing the baby out with the bath water," said Rep. Bud Bowman, R-Cedar City.
"We've got so much federal land down here already. If we're talking about another quarter of a million acres down here, this may be the wrong way to go."
Hickman said his main concern is that the deal eliminates 255,000 acres from ever becoming available for use. "And we're getting $50 million in cash which over the period of time appears to be a drop in the bucket."
"What I want to make sure happens is that the trust lands don't assume this has approval from everyone, because it doesn't."
And lawmakers weren't part of the negotiations, he said.
"There are so many resources that we're just going to abandon with this deal, it looks like to me," said Rep. Dennis Iverson, R-Washington.
"I don't think this agreement is a done deal . . . I'd just like to have this agreement go away. Go back to the lawsuit."
Brad Johnson, R-Richfield, said he has mixed feelings. There are positives and negatives in the deal. "One thing I'm concerned about it is we end up with less land. On the other hand, I'm very happy we're finally able to get some of those values that have been locked up for so many years."
Under terms of the agreement, which must still be passed by Congress, the state agreed to give up 376,739 acres of state school trust lands, including:
- 176,699 acres within the boundaries of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
- 80,000 acres within Arches and Capitol Reef national parks, Glen Canyon and Flaming Gorge national recreation areas, and Dinosaur National Monument.
The state also agreed to give up mineral rights on an additional 65,852 acres of state land. The Office of School and Institutional Trust Lands also agreed to drop its lawsuits over the Grand Staircase inholdings and lost coal developments there.
In return, the school trust fund will receive from the federal government a mixture of developable lands, mineral rights and $50 million in cash.