02/19/2026
URGENT LEGISLATIVE NOTICE
House Bill 546 threatens to seize control of federal public lands, including Forest Service Land here in the Wasatch.
This bill is based on the false claim that Utah never ceded control of federal public lands to the United States. In reality, these lands were acquired by the federal government in 1848, decades before Utah became a state, and the Constitution gives Congress authority to manage them.
This bill would redefine much of federally managed public lands in Utah as “fFederal proprietary interest lands,” claiming the state has jurisdiction over natural resources, zoning, energy development, access, and land productivity. That shift could open USFS and BLM lands to increased development, roadbuilding, mining, and even potential land sales.
HB 546 would also allow the state to label forests as “landscape public nuisances,” potentially overriding forest plans, travel management plans, and the 2001 Roadless Rule under the banner of wildfire mitigation.
We support thoughtful, collaborative wildfire management. But this bill goes far beyond that. It expands state control in ways that threaten the long term health of our public lands.
🔥We’re calling on you today to speak up on behalf of both our Public Lands here in the Wasatch, and across the state.🔥
Take action today by submitting your comments and telling lawmakers that state overreach in either direction threatens the future of the Wasatch.
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