112 STAT. 3140
PUBLIC LAW 105-335—OCT. 31, 1998
(4) The United States owns lands and interest in lands
outside of the Monument that can be transferred to the State
of Utah in exchange for the Monument inholdings without
jeopardizing Federal management objectives or needs.
(5) In 1993, Congress passed and the President signed
Public Law 103-93, which contained a process for exchanging
State of Utah school trust inholdings in the National Park
System, the National Forest System, and certain Indian reservations in Utah. Among other things, it identified various
Federal lands and interests in land that were available to
exchange for these State inholdings.
(6) Although Public Law 103-93 offered the hope of a
prompt, orderly exchange of State inholdings for Federal lands
elsewhere, implementation of the legislation has been very
slow. Completion of this process is realistically estimated to
be many years away, at great expense to both the State and
the United States in the form of expert witnesses, lawyers,
appraisers, and other litigation costs.
(7) The State also owns approximately 2,560 acres of land
in or near the Alton coal field which has been declared an
area unsuitable for coal mining under the terms of the Surface
Mining Control and Reclamation Act. This land is also administered by the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands
Administration, but its use is limited given this declaration.
(8) The large presence of State school trust land inholdings
in the Monument, national parks, national forests, and Indian
reservations make land and resource management in these
areas difficult, costly, and controversial for both the State of
Utah and the United States.
(9) It is in the public interest to reach agreement on
exchange of inholdings, on terms fair to both the State and
the United States. Agreement saves much time and delay in
meeting the expectations of the State school and institutional
trusts, in simplifying management of Federal and Indian lands
and resources, and in avoiding expensive, protracted litigation
under Public Law 103-93.
(10) The State of Utah and the United States have reached
an agreement under which the State would exchange all its
State school trust lands within the Monument, and specified
inholdings in national parks, forests, and Indian reservations
that are subject to Public Law 103-93, for various Federal
lands and interests in lands located outside the Monument,
including Federal lands and interests identified as available
for exchange in Public Law 103-93 and additional Federal
lands and interests in lands.
(11) The State school trust lands to be conveyed to the
Federal Government include properties within units of the
National Park System, the National Forest System, and the
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The Federal
assets made available for exchange with the State were selected
with a great sensitivity to environmental concerns and a belief
and expectation by both parties that Federal assets to be conveyed to the State would be unlikely to trigger significant
environmental controversy.
(12) The parties agreed at the outset of negotiations to
avoid identifying Federal assets for conveyance to the State
where any of the following was known to exist or likely to
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