July 14, 2025 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
State of Utah Concedes that Taxpayer-funded “Stand for Our Land” Litigation and Public Relations Campaign Is Blatantly Misleading During Court Hearing – 7.14.2025
Federal Public Lands Would Be Sold Off or Privatized, Not Turned Over to the State for Management
Contacts:
Stephen Bloch, Legal Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA); (steve@suwa.org)
Grant Stevens, Communications Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA); (319) 427-0260; grant@suwa.org
Salt Lake City, UT – Today, during a court hearing over the pending lawsuit, SUWA v. Cox, the State of Utah concedes that the taxpayer-funded “Stand for our Land” Litigation and public relations campaign, which implies that federal public lands would be turned over to the state of Utah for management, is blatantly misleading. Below is a statement from SUWA Legal Director Steve Bloch and additional information.
“The deeply misleading nature of Utah’s “Stand for Our Land” campaign was laid bare this morning in court when the state conceded that the goal of its litigation is to force the sale of millions of acres of public lands into private ownership,” said Steve Bloch, legal director for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. “Utah politicians have been spending millions of taxpayer dollars to intentionally confuse the public about the true, wildly unpopular goal of its land grab campaign: to radically reimagine the American West as a place devoid of public lands, but filled with fences and no trespassing signs. SUWA will continue to challenge these efforts and defend Utah’s widest public lands.”
Additional information:
July 14 Hearing
At the July 14 hearing, the court heard oral argument from SUWA and the state on SUWA’s motion to amend its complaint and further its legal and factual arguments. The state opposes SUWA’s motion and argued that the case should be dismissed.
The State of Utah is currently spending millions of taxpayer dollars on a legal and media campaign with the goal of forcing the federal government to sell more than 18.5 million acres of public lands in Utah managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
In August 2024, Utah filed a lawsuit with the United States Supreme Court seeking an order (1) holding that it’s unconstitutional for the federal government to own and manage public lands on behalf of all Americans and (2) directing the United States to begin “disposing” of 18.5 million acres of BLM-managed lands in the state. In January 2025, the Supreme Court rejected Utah’s lawsuit in a one-line order. Undeterred, Utah Governor Spencer Cox has repeatedly stated his intention for the State to pursue its land grab lawsuit in federal district court.
In December 2024, SUWA sued Governor Cox and then-Attorney General Reyes in Third District Court (state court) alleging that the land grab lawsuit violated the Utah Constitution’s provision that the “people inhabiting this State do affirm and declare that they forever disclaim all right and title to the unappropriated public lands lying within [its] boundaries.”
Media campaign
In support of its dangerous lawsuit and in an effort to confuse the public, the State is spending millions of dollars of taxpayer money on a propaganda campaign – dubbed “Let Utah Manage Utah Lands” – that fundamentally misstates both the facts and goals of its unprecedented lawsuit. Recent reporting on the State’s propaganda campaign highlighted its use of AI and paid actors as part of the stagecraft to boost Utah’s message.
Legal arguments
As the State concedes in its legal filings, the public lands that are the target of its lawsuit were never owned by Utah. Instead, Native American Tribes have lived in what is present-day Utah from time immemorial and the federal government acquired all the lands comprising Utah from Mexico in 1848.
As a condition of entry to the Union, in 1896 the citizens of Utah “forever disclaim[ed] all right and title” to the unappropriated public lands within its borders. The State’s lawsuit seeks to re-write the agreement that allowed it to become a part of the United States. This language was a condition of statehood and is found in both Utah’s Constitution and the Utah Enabling Act, which led to Utah’s entry into the Union.
If successful, the State’s lawsuit will not result in public lands automatically being given to Utah but instead would start a “disposal” process which could result in the sale of millions of acres of public lands to the highest bidder.
A 2016 report by the Public Lands Subcommittee of the Conference of Western Attorneys General evaluated the same legal claims raised by Utah in its 2024 land grab filing and concluded that they are contrary to more than a hundred years of legal precedent. Hunters, anglers, and wildlife advocates have all singled-out Utah’s lawsuit as a direct threat to the future of America’s public lands.
A map of lands in the state’s lawsuit.
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The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) is a nonprofit organization with members and supporters from around the country dedicated to protecting America’s redrock wilderness. From offices in Moab, Salt Lake City, and Washington, DC, our team of professionals defends the redrock, organizes support for America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, and stewards this world-renowned landscape. Learn more at www.suwa.org.
