SITLA, the School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration, has requested title to 440 acres of federal parcels in Uintah County, according to a BLM Vernal Field Office news release. The announcement explains that the transfer of the parcels are supported by the ‘Utah Enabling Act of July 16, 1894’ which “supports the state’s schools through the land grant managed by the state.” The Vernal Field Office has already completed the Environmental Analysis on the proposal and opened a 30-day public comment period starting on July 9th. “The parcel requested, both surface and subsurface, are isolated from other BLM lands so they are administratively difficult to manage by themselves, and are entirely surrounded by private lands,” states Vernal Field Office Manager Travis Kern. Within the Analysis itself it states that “the public will benefit from land resources coming into public ownership, while at the same time accomodating the needs of local and state governments, including the needs for public purposes, community growth, and the economy.” The Environmental Analysis is available to view and comments are being accepted
through August 9th.
