On the first anniversary of the controversial Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling allowing gay marriages, Marriage Law Foundation President Monte Stewart offered himself as a new resource - and potential defense attorney - in cases where American marriage law is at stake.

But others wonder if Stewart and his foundation aren't trying to bump Attorney General Mark Shurtleff from his still-uncertain task of defending Amendment 3.

Stewart says the foundation's underpinnings are more high-minded than monetary. He says he's trying to fill a gap in legal expertise.

"So often, those who are pursuing change in the core meaning of marriage have a great deal of expertise and resources," the Orem attorney said. "There's certainly a need on the side of those who desire to preserve and protect marriage to have comparable resources."

Funded with private donations Stewart refused to discuss in detail Thursday, the Utah foundation is closely tied to Washington-based Catholic University's Marriage Law Project. The foundation board includes Robert Destro, a Catholic University law professor. Margaret Nell, director of the university's marriage project, will be the Utah foundation's secretary. And Sutherland Institute attorney William Duncan, onetime acting director of the Marriage Project, will join Stewart as a full-time foundation attorney.

Former Utah Senate President Dixie Leavitt, former Gov. Mike Leavitt's father, also will be a board member.

Don't Amend Alliance Director Scott McCoy believes the Utah foundation is redundant in the legal battle over marriage. "They're just another one of the hyper-conservative, theocratic, legal teams that set themselves up as experts. There are groups like this all over the country."

McCoy figures Stewart is stumping for a job defending Utah's amendment. "I'll bet you $50 that Monte Stewart and this outfit are who [state legislators] would hire to defend the state."

Stewart says he is not lobbying lawmakers to remove Shurtleff from any future challenge to the amendment - as Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, has suggested because of the attorney general's opposition to Amendment 3 before it was approved. But Stewart, who was appointed a special prosecutor in the Tom Green polygamy case and special counsel in the state's fight over nuclear waste with the Skull Valley Goshute Band of Indians, stopped short of rejecting the idea.

"There is genuine professionalism in the attorney general's office. They will make a sound judgment call on whether and to what extent that office can and should be involved in defending Amendment 3," he said. "I'm not about to predict or argue what that judgment call should be."

A three-member legal panel will decide which cases the foundation will advise or intervene in. The foundation will work within IRS guidelines that limit nonprofit legal activity to "public-interest litigation" or cases targeted at the foundation's core mission, Stewart said. Marriage amendments have been challenged in Georgia, Louisiana and Nebraska. And the American Civil Liberties Union is arguing cases for gay couples seeking equal treatment under the law in Alaska, Connecticut, Florida Indiana, Montana and New Jersey.

"The key and primary charitable purpose of this organization is to preserve and protect marriage," Stewart said.

Stewart and Duncan will be paid salaries "comparable" to attorneys handling such litigation. Stewart said the foundation will reveal its donations in an annual tax report. The Yes on 3 political issues committee formed during the election refused to push some of its largest donor organizations to disclose the source of that money.