Utah West Desert Land Exchange Act of 2000
PL 106-301 (H.R.4579), enacted 10/13/2000

PUBLIC LAW 106-301—OCT. 13, 2000 
114 STAT. 1059 
Public Law 106-301 
106th Congress 
An Act 
To provide for the exchange of certain lands within the State of Utah. 
Oct. 13, 2000 
[H.R. 4579] 
2000. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 
of 
the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
Utah West 
Desert Land 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
Exchange Act of 
This Act may be cited as the "Utah West Desert Land Exchange 
Act of 2000". 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 
(1) The State of Utah owns approximately 95,095.19 acres 
of land, as well as approximately 11,187.60 acres of mineral 
interests, located in the West Desert region of Utah and con-
tained wholly or partially within certain wilderness study areas 
created pursuant to section 603 of the Federal Lands Policy 
and Management Act of 1976, or proposed by the Bureau of 
Land Management for wilderness study area status pursuant 
to section 202 of that Act. These lands were grsmted by the 
Congress to the State of Utah pursuant to the Utah Enabling 
Act of 1894 (chapter 138; 23 Stat. 107), to be held in trust 
for the benefit of the State's public school system and other 
public institutions. The lands are largely scattered in checker-
board fashion amidst the Federal lands comprising the 
remainder of such existing and proposed wilderness study 
areas. 
(2) Development of surface and mineral resources on State 
trust lands within existing or proposed wilderness study areas, 
or the sale of such lands into private ownership, could be 
incompatible with management of such lands for nonimpair-
ment of their wilderness characteristics pursuant to section 
603(c) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 
1976 or with future congressional designation of the lands 
as wilderness. 
(3) The United States owns lands and interests in lands 
outside of existing and proposed wilderness study areas that 
can be transferred to the State of Utah in exchange for the 
West Desert wilderness inholdings without jeopardizing Federal 
management objectives or needs. 
(4) The large presence of State trust land inholdings in 
existing and proposed wilderness study areas in the West 
Desert region makes land and resource management in these 
areas difficult, costly, and controversial for both the State of 
Utah and the United States. 
114 STAT. 1060 
PUBLIC LAW 106-301—OCT. 13, 2000 
(5) It is in the public interest to reach agreement on 
exchange of such inholdings, on terms fair to both the State 
of Utah and the United States. Such an agreement, subject 
to ratification by the Congress, would save much time and 
delay in meeting the legitimate expectations of the State school 
and institutional trusts, in simplifying management of Federal 
lands, and in avoiding the significant time and expense associ-
ated with administrative land exchanges, 
(6) The State of Utah and the United States have reached 
an agreement imder which the State would exchange certain 
State trust lands within specified wilderness study areas and 
areas identified as having wilderness characteristics in the 
West Desert region for various Federal lands and interests 
in lands outside of those areas but in the same region of 
Utah. The agreement also provides for the State to convey 
to the United States approximately 483 acres of land in Wash-
ington County, Utah, that has been designated as critical 
habitat for the Desert Tortoise, a threatened species, for inclu-
sion in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve. 
(7) Because the inholdings to be acquired by the Federal 
Government include properties within some of the most spectac-
ular wild areas in the western United States, and because 
a mission of the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands 
Administration is to produce economic benefits for Utah's public 
schools and other beneficiary institutions, the exchange of lands 
called for in this agreement will resolve longstanding environ-
mental conflicts with respect to the existing and proposed 
wilderness study areas, place importemt natural lands into 
public ownership, and further the interests of the State trust 
lands, the school children of Utah, and these conservation 
resources. 
(8) Under this agreement taken as a whole, the State 
interests to be conveyed to the United States by the State 
of Utah, and the Federal interests to be conveyed to the State 
of Utah by the United States, will be approximately equal 
in value. 
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to enact into law 
and direct prompt implementation of this agreement, and thereby 
to further the public interest by consolidating State and Federal 
lands into manageable units while facilitating the protection of 
lands with significant scientific, cultural, and natural resources. 
SEC. 3. RATIFICATION OF THE AGREED EXCHANGE BETWEEN THE 
STATE OF UTAH AND THE DEPARTMENT OF THE 
INTERIOR. 
(a) AGREEMENT.—The State of Utah and the Department of 
the Interior have agreed to exchange certain Federal lands and 
mineral interests in the State of Utah for lands and mineral 
interests of approximately equal value managed by the Utah School 
and Institutional Trust Lands Administration wholly or partially 
within certain existing and proposed wilderness study areas in 
the West Desert region of Utah. 
(b) RATIFICATION.—All terms, conditions, procedures, covenants, 
reservations, and other provisions set forth in the document entitled 
"Agreement for Exchange of Lands—^West Desert State-Federal 
Land Consolidation", dated May 30, 2000 (in this Act referred 
to as "the Agreement"), are hereby incorporated in this Act, are 
PUBLIC LAW 106-301—OCT. 13, 2000 
114 STAT. 1061 
ratified and confirmed, and set forth the obligations of the United 
States, the State of Utah, and the Utah School and Institutional 
Trust Lands Administration, as a matter of Federal law. 
(c) CONDITION.—Before exchanging any lands under this Act, 
the Secretary of the Interior and the State of Utah shall each 
document in a statement of value how the determination of approxi-
mately equal value was made in accordance with section 206(h) 
of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 
1716(h)), provided that the provisions of paragraph (1)(A) of section 
206(h) of such Act shall not apply. In addition, the Secretary and 
the State shall select an independent qualified appraiser who shall 
review the statements of value as prepared by the Secretary and 
the State of Utah and all documentation and determine if the 
lands are of approximately equal value. If there is a finding of 
a difference in value, then the Secretary and the State shall adjust 
the exchange to achieve approximately equal value. 
SEC. 4. CONVEYANCES. 
(a) CONVEYANCES.—^All conveyances under sections 2 and 3 Deadline. 
of the Agreement shall be completed within 70 days after the 
date on which the condition set forth in section 3(c) is met. 
(b) MAPS AND LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The maps and legal descriptions referred 
to in the Agreement depict the lands subject to the conveyances 
under the Agreement. 
(2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The maps and descriptions 
referred to in the Agreement shall be on file and available 
for public inspection in the offices of the Secretary of the 
Interior and the Utah State Director of the Bureau of Land 
Management. 
(3) CONFLICT.—In case of any conflict between the maps 
and the legal descriptions in the Agreement, the legal descrip-
tions shall control. 
SEC. 5. COSTS. 
The United States and the State of Utah shall each bear 
its own respective costs incurred in the implementation of this 
Act. 
Approved October 13, 2000. 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—H.R. 4579: 
SENATE REPORTS: No. 106-463 (Comm. on Energy and Natural Resources). 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 146 (2000): 
July 11, considered and passed House. 
Oct. 3, considered and passed Senate.