![Supreme Court Refuses To Hear Utah's Land-Grab Lawsuit](https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/67853516160000230070b0ac.jpeg?ops=1200_630)
Supreme Court Refuses To Hear Utah's Land-Grab Lawsuit
HuffPost
One public land advocate called the decision "an embarrassment for the state."
The Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up Utah’s lawsuit aimed at wresting control of more than 18 million acres of public land in the state from the federal government.
In its lawsuit, filed in August, the state of Utah argued it was unconstitutional for the federal government to retain ownership of “unappropriated” lands, meaning those not set aside as a national park or for some other specific purpose. And it asked the court to effectively hand over 18.5 million acres of Bureau of Land Management lands to the state.
The conservative-led high court rejected the case outright, with no explanation. It’s a stunning defeat for Republican officials in Utah, who said they brought the case after “decades of legal analysis” and spent millions of taxpayer dollars promoting the legal effort.
“We’re grateful the Supreme Court swiftly rejected the State of Utah’s misguided land grab lawsuit,” Steve Bloch, legal director for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, said in a statement. “For more than 100 years, the Supreme Court has affirmed the power of the federal government to hold and manage public lands on behalf of all Americans.”
Jennifer Rokala, executive director of the Center for Western Priorities, called Monday’s court ruling “an embarrassment for the state of Utah.”