The House Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Committee unanimously approved a resolution supporting what would be an 88,000-acre trade between SITLA and the Bureau of Land Management, an agreement that has received preliminary approval from federal and state land managers.

Under the proposal, SITLA would swap 48,000 acres of environmentally sensitive lands along the Colorado River and near Dinosaur National Monument in exchange for 40,000 acres of BLM holdings in the gas and oil-rich Uinta Basin. The federal agency also would throw in parcels in the city of Green River and a plot near the Moab Airport as part of the deal.

Essentially, "we're trying to acquire lands with income-generating potential," SITLA Director Kevin Carter told committee members, while at the same time shedding lands that will never be developed. Many of the school trust parcels along the Colorado River sit in wilderness study areas.

Some committee members expressed concern about the imbalance of the trade, noting that the federal government will receive more acreage than it is giving up. But Carter said the realities of the real estate market made an even swap impossible -- the land that SITLA sought was simply worth more than the land it was seeking to trade. Therefore, the state received fewer acres.

Because of that, and because the exchange was painstakingly negotiated by SITLA and the BLM, any legislative attempt to amend the trade "would probably be unwise," said Sen. Beverly Evans, R-Altamont, the resolution's sponsor.

In addition to the early approval of federal and state land managers, the proposed land swap has the backing of the state's congressional delegation, Carter said. It has also passed muster with both the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and the Grand Canyon Trust.

jbaird@sltrib.com