SITLA outlines proposed Bears Ears land exchanges; commissioners raise concerns for San Juan County

Tyson Todd of the School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA) presented a map of five parcels in Utah County that the agency is targeting for potential acquisition as part of a streamlined Bears Ears exchange process, and outlined SITLA’s mandate to generate revenue for beneficiary public education accounts.

"We talk with local governments, mining, energy, agriculture and other businesses to identify parcels we can manage for revenue," Tyson Todd said. He described parcels near Eagle Mountain and other locations that SITLA views as candidates for residential or solar development and estimated that SITLA distributed about $19,200,000 to local schools in Utah County last year.

Commissioners expressed concern that the exchange — which would move some trust parcels inside the Bears Ears boundary to federal management — could remove a historic "safety net" of state trust land holdings in San Juan County. One commissioner warned of political "whiplash" as federal monument designations and reversals change management and access over time. Todd and other SITLA representatives said they are attempting to equalize value by identifying roughly 43,000 acres of federal BLM land outside the Bears Ears boundary that SITLA would seek to acquire to help offset the approximately 160,000 acres of trust land currently identified within the monument boundary.

Todd said the agency prefers to work with affected counties and communities and to pursue acre‑for‑acre valuation trades where possible. "We're trying to work with San Juan County to remain them whole," he said, describing discussions with local officials and a plan to identify higher‑revenue parcels elsewhere in the county to offset lands that would become federally managed.

Several commissioners recommended that state or local lawmakers consider legislation to keep county acreage whole in exchanges; one commissioner said he had prepared a draft bill to that effect. Presenters acknowledged the political sensitivity and said SITLA’s immediate goal is to act while momentum exists in Washington and to assemble parcel options that maximize revenue for beneficiaries.

The commission did not take formal action on the SITLA presentation; commissioners thanked the SITLA team for the briefing and requested continued coordination with county officials.