Utah filed a major lawsuit with the Supreme Court on Tuesday that could have major implications for federalism and the administration of public lands across the country if successful.
Utah’s lawsuit contends that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) does not have the authority to effectively hold “unappropriated” state lands indefinitely under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), the state announced.
The status quo with respect to federal control over much of Utah is “egregious federal overreach” that “disrupts the constitutionally prescribed balance of power between the federal government and the States” and “cannot continue,” the lawsuit states.
“Utah’s suit is one of the most important federal lands cases ever brought to the Supreme Court.
The federal government controls about 18.5 million acres of “unappropriated” Utah land under the FLPMA, and Utah’s suit argues that the state ought to control this land because nothing in the Constitution expressly permits the federal government to do so instead.
In total, the federal government controls about 70% of Utah’s land, and the “unappropriated” land that is the subject of Utah’s legal challenge makes up about 34% of the state’s territory.
“If the Supreme Court agrees that FLPMA conflicts with the Constitution’s property clause, then it will apply to all unappropriated federal lands in the West and Alaska.” “I think Utah’s legal case is strong, but so is the practical impetus for bringing it.
https://thelibertydaily.com/egregious-federal-overreach-utahs-lawsuit-supreme-court-could/
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