Biden rebukes Utah’s Public lands lawsuit as baseless

The Biden administration has dismissed Utah’s lawsuit challenging federal ownership of public lands as legally unfounded. Filed in August, the state’s petition to the U.S. Supreme Court argues that the federal government cannot retain control over 18.5 million acres of “unappropriated land” within Utah indefinitely.

These lands, managed by the Bureau of Land Management, are neither designated wilderness, parks, nor monuments.

Utah contends that the U.S. Constitution permits the government to “dispose” of public land but does not grant it the authority to retain such ownership permanently. However, the Department of Justice (DOJ) countered the claim in a November response, stating it “plainly lacks merit.” The DOJ emphasized that Congress has constitutional authority over federal public lands and highlighted historical precedents affirming this power.

Utah’s lawsuit, the DOJ argued, contradicts the terms under which the state entered the Union in 1896. The state constitution explicitly relinquished rights to federal lands within its boundaries.

“The lawsuit is so in conflict with all of that history which has gone into establishing the West as we know it today,” said Chris Winter, an environmental law expert at the University of Colorado Law School. He added that the DOJ’s response starkly underscores the legal weaknesses in Utah’s arguments.

The government’s brief also questioned the broader implications of Utah’s claim, noting that it does not challenge federal ownership of other properties such as Puerto Rico, Guam, Fort Knox, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, or Smithsonian artifacts.

According to the DOJ, the Constitution treats public lands no differently from these holdings. Additionally, the brief pointed out that Utah’s case does not meet the criteria for Supreme Court review before lower courts have weighed in.

Utah has gained support from officials in Idaho, Wyoming, New Mexico, and Arizona, who have filed briefs backing the petition. Conversely, the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation has joined the federal government in opposing the lawsuit. The Supreme Court is expected to decide by October 2025 whether it will hear the case.