Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 112 Part 5.djvu/382

 112 STAT. 3140 PUBLIC LAW 105-335—OCT. 31, 1998 (4) The United States owns lands and interest in lands outside of the Monument that can be transferred to the State of Utah in exchange for the Monument inholdings without jeopardizing Federal management objectives or needs. (5) In 1993, Congress passed and the President signed Public Law 103-93, which contained a process for exchanging State of Utah school trust inholdings in the National Park System, the National Forest System, and certain Indian reservations in Utah. Among other things, it identified various Federal lands and interests in land that were available to exchange for these State inholdings. (6) Although Public Law 103-93 offered the hope of a prompt, orderly exchange of State inholdings for Federal lands elsewhere, implementation of the legislation has been very slow. Completion of this process is realistically estimated to be many years away, at great expense to both the State and the United States in the form of expert witnesses, lawyers, appraisers, and other litigation costs. (7) The State also owns approximately 2,560 acres of land in or near the Alton coal field which has been declared an area unsuitable for coal mining under the terms of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act. This land is also administered by the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration, but its use is limited given this declaration. (8) The large presence of State school trust land inholdings in the Monument, national parks, national forests, and Indian reservations make land and resource management in these areas difficult, costly, and controversial for both the State of Utah and the United States. (9) It is in the public interest to reach agreement on exchange of inholdings, on terms fair to both the State and the United States. Agreement saves much time and delay in meeting the expectations of the State school and institutional trusts, in simplifying management of Federal and Indian lands and resources, and in avoiding expensive, protracted litigation under Public Law 103-93. (10) The State of Utah and the United States have reached an agreement under which the State would exchange all its State school trust lands within the Monument, and specified inholdings in national parks, forests, and Indian reservations that are subject to Public Law 103-93, for various Federal lands and interests in lands located outside the Monument, including Federal lands and interests identified as available for exchange in Public Law 103-93 and additional Federal lands and interests in lands. (11) The State school trust lands to be conveyed to the Federal Government include properties within units of the National Park System, the National Forest System, and the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The Federal assets made available for exchange with the State were selected with a great sensitivity to environmental concerns and a belief and expectation by both parties that Federal assets to be conveyed to the State would be unlikely to trigger significant environmental controversy. (12) The parties agreed at the outset of negotiations to avoid identifying Federal assets for conveyance to the State where any of the following was known to exist or likely to

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