- Bible, Genesis, Ch. 25, V. 31-34
The planned sale of 364 acres of scenic Utah riverfront property on the Green River, a blue-ribbon trout fishery, to the highest bidder is further evidence of the need to modify the mission of the Utah School and Institutional Trust Land Administration.
An illogical and shortsighted policy results in SITLA, which manages school trust lands throughout the state, working at odds with state agencies charged with protecting water, recreation land and wildlife.
SITLA's only directive from the Legislature is to maximize profits from the trust lands, deeded to the state by the federal government in 1896. Those profits go into a trust, with the interest to be used for schools. To date, it has provided a tiny fraction of Utah's education budget.
By law, the SITLA board cannot consider that some lands are worth more to the state than the cash derived by leasing or selling them to developers and energy speculators.
These scenic lands are valuable assets, attracting tourists, hunters and fishers and the money they spend when they visit. Once the lands are sold or punched full of holes by oil- and gas-drilling rigs, their long-term worth - our birthright - is gone forever.
The land near Little Hole on the Green River is a prime example. The State Division of Wildlife Resources wants to keep the land public. SITLA, at first, wanted to lease it to a developer for a private fishing lodge, but since DWR refused to allow access to the site across adjacent state property, SITLA has put the property on the auction block, with a minimum bid of $1.25 million. Only if DWR successfully bids for it, against any number of private developers, can the state hold onto this gem.
This intrastate dickering and bickering arises from a destructive, shortsighted policy that the Legislature must rethink. The fact is, some Utah lands, designated arbitrarily as school trust land 111 years ago, are now priceless and should not be offered for sale or lease.
SITLA's mandate should include preservation as an alternative to selling the state's beauteous birthright for a mess of pottage.
