A hot spot for hunting and fishing enthusiasts is the topic of a major proposed sale that is said will preserve public access. A sale of 50,000 acres of land in the Book Cliffs is being explored in a potential $30 million sale by the Utah Trust Lands Administration to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. The door opened for deals like this in 2024 when the Utah Legislature passed a law to allow Utah wildlife officials to purchase lands with special public interest from the Utah Trust Lands Administration. In 2025, $50 million of funding was allocated by the Legislature to fund the potential purchases. Now in 2026, $30 million dollars of that funding is about to make possible the purchase of the Book Cliffs land by the DWR. With the Trust Lands Administration planning to vote on whether to approve the sale or not during their June meeting, advocates of public education funding are pushing back. Representatives with Advocates for School Trust Lands spoke at last month’s Trust Lands Administration board meeting in opposition and have challenged the proposed sale.
