[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 73 (Tuesday, June 9, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5788-S5790]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. HATCH (for himself and Mr. Bennett):
  S. 2146. A bill to provide for the exchange of certain lands within 
the State of Utah; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.


              UTAH SCHOOLS AND LANDS EXCHANGE ACT OF 1998

  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, nearly 2 years ago, President Clinton 
announced, from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, the formation of the 
country's newest national monument, the Grand Staircase-Escalante 
Monument in southern Utah.
  Because of the clandestine manner by which the Administration made 
this decision and planned its announcement, what should have been cause 
for celebration among Utahns resulted in feelings of exploitation and 
abuse. Public trust in our federal government reached an all time low 
in southern Utah, and many wounds inflicted then still exist today.
  Today, I am introducing legislation, along with my colleague Senator 
Bennett, which, if passed, will help restore trust in our government 
and assist the healing process among our rural citizens in Utah.
  The Utah Schools and Lands Exchange Act of 1998 codifies a recently 
signed agreement brokered by the Secretary of Interior, Bruce Babbitt, 
and Utah Governor Michael Leavitt to exchange Utah School Trust lands 
located within Utah's national parks, monuments, recreation areas, and 
forests for cash and federal assets in other parts of Utah. The 
collaboration that should have taken place prior to the establishment 
of the Grand Staircase-Escalante Monument has finally taken place to 
mitigate one of the severest impacts of that presidential declaration.
  This agreement is the result of a lengthy and somewhat fragile 
negotiation, which included such critical issues as achieving the 
effective management of the public's land, preserving the environment, 
and consummating a fair and equitable exchange between the federal 
government and the State of Utah. The result is a mutually beneficial 
exchange of state and federal property that deserves the support and 
approval of the Congress.
  As my colleagues may recall, when Utah achieved statehood in 1896, a 
number of sections within each township were set aside for the support 
of the common schools. By law, these lands, known as School Trust 
Lands, are to be managed in the best possible way to generate revenue 
for Utah's school children. Several western states have a similar 
revenue plan for their public school systems.
  Utah's checkerboard pattern of land owernship--squares of federal, 
state, and private land intermingled throughout the state--has 
historically created difficulties between the federal and state 
governments. Conflicts of interest between federal and state land 
managers became more obvious and divisive as national parks, forests, 
or monuments were created.
  When federal land is set aside or designated as a national park, 
forest, or monument in Utah, our School Trust Lands are captured within 
their boundaries. In effect, the state loses its ability to generate 
revenues from these lands because they have been surrounded by lands in 
a specially protected designation. By 1990, over 200,000 acres of 
school trust land were isolated within federal designations.
  In 1993, Congress passed legislation I sponsored along with other 
delegation members--the Utah Schools and Lands Improvement Act of 1993, 
P.L. 103-93--

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to help resolve this land management situation. But implementation has 
been unsatisfactory. There have been endless arguments over appraisals 
and literally millions of dollars in expenses to the state for legal 
and research activities. For this reason alone, the legislation we are 
introducing today is necessary.
  During his announcement to establish the Grand Staircase-Escalante 
National Monument, President Clinton voiced his firm commitment that 
Utah's school children would not be negatively affected by the creation 
of the Monument. In other words, those School Trust Lands captured 
within the Monument's boundaries would be withdrawn and made fully 
available, and thus profitable, for the benefit of Utah's public 
education system. The principal purpose of this bill is to put the 
bipartisan, federal-state negotiated agreement into effect and to 
ensure that the President's promise to protect Utah's school children 
does not ring hollow. This is accomplished in several ways.
  First, as I mentioned, this bill will transfer approximately 350,000 
acres of School Trust Lands that are located within Utah monuments, 
recreations areas, national parks, and forests, to the federal 
government. These lands are similar in nature to the adjacent federal 
lands and are deserving of the same designation and special management 
considerations as their federal neighbors. This exchange harmonizes the 
land ownership pattern within Utah's national parks, forests and 
monuments, thus eliminating any competing management objectives within 
these designations. The American people will be greatly benefited once 
the entire acreage within a park or forest is federal land.
  Let me assure my colleagues that those lands to be acquired by the 
federal government are just as extraordinary as the adjacent federal 
lands.
  For example, this acreage includes: Eye of the Whale Arch, located in 
Arches National Park; the Perfect Ruin (an Anasazi ruin) and the Jacob 
Hamblin Arch of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area; several hundred 
foot red rock cliffs located within in the Grand Staircase-Escalante 
National Monument; and the high mountain alpine area in the Wasatch-
Cache National Forest known as Franklin Basin. It includes many other 
exciting natural wonders, such as ancient Native American rock art 
panels in Dinosaur National Monument and unique geologic formations of 
the Waterpocket Fold within Capitol Reef National Park.
  Our proposal will protect these and other precious land forms by 
transferring their ownership to the federal government.
  For its part, the State of Utah will receive $50,000,000 in cash 
previously set aside in the 103rd Congress for P.L. 103-93. This money 
has already been appropriated and thus there is no budgetary impact 
caused by this bill. An additional $13,000,000 produced from unleased 
coal sales will also be forthcoming to the State. These funds will all 
be deposited to the Utah Permanent School Fund for the benefit of 
Utah's current and future school children.
  In addition, under the terms of the agreement, the State will gain 
access to 160 million tons of coal, 185 billion cubic feet of coal bed 
methane resources, 139,000 acres of land and minerals located in nine 
Utah counties, and a variety of minerals including limestone, tar 
sands, oil, and gas.
  Coal reserves the state will receive include the Mill Fork Tract and 
North Horn Tract in Emery County; the West Ridge Tract in Carbon 
County; and the Muddy Creek and Dugout Canyon Tracts located in both 
Carbon and Emery Counties.
  The coal bed methane resources acquired by the state are situated in 
the Ferron Field, located in Carbon and Emery counties, and totals 
58,000 acres.
  Finally, the agreement provides for additional state acquisitions, 
including limestone deposits, oil and gas properties, and Tar Sands, 
and several properties identified in 1993 will be transferred to state 
control: the Blue Mountain Telecommunication Site, located in Uintah 
County, and the Beaver Mountain ski resort in Cache County.
  Mr. President, in closing let me mention one important point 
regarding the Babbitt-Leavitt agreement to be effectuated by the 
legislation we are introducing today. The entire exchange is of 
approximately equal value. This is a delicately structured package that 
includes an exchange of state lands for federal assets. Each party to 
the agreement recognizes this fact, which is the glue keeping this 
agreement together.
  And, while protecting the interests of both the State of Utah and the 
federal government, the agreement and the bill also protect existing 
stakeholders, such as the affected local governments and the valid 
existing rights of permittees, such as ranchers and mining leases. As I 
mentioned earlier, the important fact to keep in mind is there is no 
impact to the federal budget from this legislation.
  Mr. President, Secretary Babbitt and Governor Leavitt have achieved 
an historic agreement that is truly remarkable. The State of Utah has 
been trying to exchange School Trust Lands captured within federal 
reservations for decades, thus allowing these lands to be profitably 
utilized for the benefit of Utah's school children. We now have an 
opportunity through this agreement to reach this worthwhile goal.
  I hope that the Senate will seriously review this agreement and this 
legislation will add its support with little, if any, alteration. I 
believe this proposal is necessary and will provide substantial benefit 
to the people of Utah and the citizens of this country.
  Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, I am pleased to join my colleague Senator 
Hatch in introducing the Utah School Lands Exchange Act. This 
legislation is the result of months of negotiations between the Utah 
School and Institutional Trust Administration (SITLA), the Governor of 
Utah and the Secretary of Interior.
  Utah is a mosaic of land ownership and the federal government is the 
largest landlord. With 22 million acres under BLM management alone, 
eight million acres under the United States Forest Service and another 
three million in National Parks and Monuments, public lands issues 
command considerable attention in my state. This is complicated by the 
1894 Enabling Act which created a checkerboard pattern of state 
ownership among federal lands, intermingling five sections of state 
lands in every township. The federal government and the state of Utah 
have been trying to resolve the thorny issue of how to manage or 
dispose of these trust lands for well over a half century now. My 
father attempted to bring some resolution to the issue when he served 
in this body more than forty years ago.
  In 1993, after extensive negotiations, Congress passed P.L. 103-93 
which set in motion a process to exchange lands out of Utah's National 
Parks and Forest lands for other parcels within the state. The process 
was marginally successful at best, due to the complex process of 
appraisals and arbitration established by the legislation. Of the 500 
plus parcels identified in that exchange over five years ago, less than 
forty have actually been exchanged to date. The trust lands issue was 
further complicated by the creation of the Grand Staircase-Escalante 
National Monument in September of 1996. Without going into details, 
176,000 acres of School Trust Lands were locked up by the creation of 
the Monument. President Clinton promised to use his office to 
facilitate the prompt exchange of these lands. Most Utahns were 
skeptical that this would actually happen. In fact, SITLA and the Utah 
Association of Counties filed suit over the creation of the Grand 
Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
  Now, nearly two years later, the Clinton Administration has reached a 
historic agreement with the Governor of Utah and SITLA to exchange 
376,000 acres of state lands for 138,000 acres of federal lands. This 
agreement fulfills the President's commitment to the schoolchildren of 
Utah and reduces the uncertainty over the future management of the 
Monument. I hope my colleagues understand that it is in the best 
interest of the federal government to exchange these lands promptly.
  This proposal benefits the school children of Utah as well as the 
visitors and users of public lands. In exchange for lands encumbered 
within parks, forests and the Monument, the state of Utah will receive 
just compensation in the form of mineral assets, comparable lands 
within the state and a sizable cash payment. These assets will be 
administered by the State Institutional

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Trust Lands Administration for the improvement of public education in 
Utah. In that context, we must support this agreement. We have a 
responsibility to help SITLA fulfill its mandate and utilize these 
lands for the greatest benefit to the children of Utah. Without this 
exchange, these lands, despite their significant mineral potential, 
will remain unproductive.
  At a time of competing interests and lack of consensus regarding land 
use in Utah, this is a step in the right direction. I believe that the 
agreement reached between the state and the Department of Interior 
bridges the gap that has existed for decades. While some interests are 
not totally satisfied, I believe the legislation we are introducing 
today is a fair and equitable agreement. I am also confident that the 
Committee will listen closely to those parties and make a good-faith 
effort to resolve any lingering concerns.
  I appreciate the good work of my colleague Senator Hatch, Governor 
Leavitt and Secretary Babbitt, as well as our colleagues in the House. 
I am confident that we will see a resolution to this longstanding 
debate in the 105th Congress. I urge my colleagues to support this bill 
and bring this issue to closure.
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