This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Utah lawmakers appear to be renewing a long-standing threat to sue the federal government to take ownership of 31 million acres of public land.

A resolution that advanced out of committee Friday doubles down on the Legislature's quest to wrest control but prioritizes a congressional process. Filing a petition before the U.S. Supreme Court, expected to cost $14 million, would serve only as a last resort.

"The intent of this is to say, 'Look, we treasure our public lands. We have always treasured our public lands. It is the protection of our public lands that we are seeking," Rep. Keven Stratton, R-Orem, told a House committee.

Stratton's HCR1 was one of two resolutions advanced by the committee Friday that seek greater state control over public land and its resources, arguing federal management is "structurally broken" and shuts out the wishes of local residents.

Critics see it as a power grab.

"Federalism, which is so heralded here, is about the division of powers. Utah legislators keep attempting to usurp rights that are not theirs, passing resolutions and laws that dictate what can and cannot happen on federal lands by federal officers. This is little different than the edicts of colonialism," Rep. Brian King, D-Salt Lake City.

Sponsored by Rep. Mike Noel, Utah's leading land-transfer warrior, HCR23, the second resolution, calls for "no net loss" of motorized recreation routes on public land and alleges environmental organizations have undue influence over what routes are open to motorized use.

Noel's resolution challenges a recent legal settlement between the federal Bureau of Land Management and environmental groups, requiring the BLM to revise motorized travel plans in five resource areas. He insists the BLM must replace any motorized opportunity it takes away with an "equivalent" one nearby.

Steve Bloch, legal director of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, dismissed Noel's characterization.

"It used to be cross-country travel everywhere," Bloch said. "The state and OHV groups agreed that was having obvious damage in light of growing motorized use."

He and other advocates lambasted the state's campaign to take over public lands, something no other Western state has embraced.

"These are America's federal lands that the Legislature has once again reiterated it wants to take away," Bloch said. "These lands were never Utah's."

But lawmakers say state control aims only to protect the land, not open most of it to grazing, drilling and logging as critics suspect.

"We are here to increase access, increase the health and vitality of the land," Stratton said. "Only over my dead body would we sell any of our public lands."