August 20, 2024 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Utah doubles down as the most anti-public lands state in the country – 8.20.24  

Contacts:
Steve Bloch, Legal Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA); (801) 859-1552; steve@suwa.org
Grant Stevens, Communications Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA); (319) 427-0260; grant@suwa.org

Salt Lake City, UT – Today, in an election-year stunt, Utah Governor Spencer Cox and other state elected officials announced the state of Utah has brought a lawsuit before the United States Supreme Court to challenge the federal government’s control over federal public lands in the state. SUWA Legal Director Steve Bloch had the following statement: 

“With today’s announcement Utah has firmly established itself as the most anti-public lands state in the country. Utahns and visitors travel to our state to experience stunning redrock canyons, spires, and mesas; public lands that are owned by all Americans and managed on their behalf by the federal government and its expert agencies. All of that is at risk with Utah’s saber rattling and insistence that many of these remarkable landscapes are instead “state lands” that should be developed and ultimately destroyed by short-sighted state politicians. The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance strongly opposes Utah’s efforts and will work to keep public lands protected.”

###

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.