The proposal unveiled Monday is a lot like Utah House Speaker Marty Stephens' idea to charge the U.S. government for federally owned public lands: Think Apple Initiative two years later.

Before his unsuccessful run for governor, Stephens took his idea to the Council of State Governments and prodded nine state legislatures to adopt resolutions urging their delegations to push for Congress to reimburse Utah and other western states for the federal lands within their boundaries. But that's as far as the Apple Initiative rolled.

Now, Reps. Rob Bishop and Chris Cannon and congressional hopeful John Swallow and gubernatorial candidate Jon Huntsman Jr. insist they are the coalition to persuade the other members of Congress to pay Utah and 12 other western states for wilderness and forest lands protected from development.

"They have ruminated long enough," Bishop said at a news conference outside Lowell Elementary School in Salt Lake City's Avenues neighborhood.

Based on estimates of mineral deposits, previous sales and trades of similar state school trust lands, Stephens and legislative researchers estimated one-time and ongoing payments for each of the Western states. About 65 percent of Utah is owned by the federal government.

If 5 percent of Utah's federal lands were to be sold for an average of $525 an acre, the state would collect a lump sum of $836 million. Figuring in lost property taxes and rent and royalty payments, Utah schools could collect another $116 million a year.

Monday's press conference took on a partisan tone. With Huntsman and Swallow snared in tight election campaigns with Democratic gubernatorial candidate Scott Matheson Jr. and Democratic Congressman Jim Matheson, the Republicans insist Utah needs a unified front to persuade the rest of Congress to go along with their idea when the U.S. economy is recovering from recession at a glacial pace and the federal deficit grows.

"This is a perfect example of the kind of collaboration we're going to need to be successful," Huntsman said.

But the Republicans aren't the only ones who like the idea. U.S. Rep. Matheson also supports the initiative. He said the tight squeeze of the federal budget should not deter Utah's delegation.

Using the same arguments Stephens used two years ago to pitch his idea, the Republican candidates tacked on two of their own Monday. In January, Cannon says he will introduce related legislation to consolidate the state's trust lands, opening up some lands for development and protecting others. And the candidates believe the cash payoff should come in the form of block grants that can be dropped into the state's Uniform School Fund.