Opinion ID: 2630128
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: ORIGINS OF THE PROPOSED EXCHANGE AND THIS COURT'S PRIOR DECISION IN NATIONAL PARKS CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION v. BOARD OF STATE LANDS

Text: ¶ 3 In 1987, Garfield County approached the Division with a proposal to acquire section 16 in exchange for three parcels of land owned by the County. Garfield County wanted to acquire section 16 so that it could pave a portion of the Burr Trail, which crossed the property. As part of its proposals, Garfield County submitted appraisals of both section 16 and each of the parcels that it offered in exchange. The Division relied on those appraisals in concluding that the exchange was fair and permissible under its trust obligations. On December 24, 1987, Governor Norman H. Bangerter executed a patent conveying section 16 to Garfield County. [6] ¶ 4 NPCA, which had attempted unsuccessfully to intervene in the exchange proceedings, sought review by this court of the Division's decision. NPCA challenged the Division's ruling on a number of grounds, two of which are relevant for purposes of this appeal. First, NPCA contended that the Division had violated its fiduciary duties as trustee of the school trust lands by failing to give priority to scenic, aesthetic, and recreational values in its decision to exchange section 16. Second, NPCA argued that the Division breached its fiduciary duties by relying solely on appraisals commissioned by Garfield County to determine that the land exchange was fair to the school land trust. [7] ¶ 5 In NPCA I, we affirmed the Division's decision to base its assessment of the fairness of the exchange primarily on economic, rather than noneconomic, factors. [8] But we also determined that the Division had breached its fiduciary duties by failing to commission an independent appraisal of the land values to determine whether the exchange was fair to the school land trust. We stated: For a trustee to rely on appraisals submitted by a purchaser of trust assets is to leave the trust subject to sharp dealing on the part of the purchaser. For that reason, we hold that a breach of trust occurs when a trustee uses an appraisal submitted by the purchaser as the basis for ascertaining the fair market value of a trust asset. To comply with its fiduciary duties, the Division itself must obtain the appraisals on which it bases its decision. [9] Accordingly, we stayed the pending exchange and remanded the case back to the Division for a determination of whether the appraised values of section 16 and the Garfield County lands offered in exchange represent the full value of those lands. [10]