Supreme Court Rejects Utah Public Lands Heist Lawsuit

But it’s far from the end on the GOP’s war on nature

In a rare victory for good (breathable air, drinkable water, wild animals, places to go outdoors) versus evil (efforts by the oil and gas industries and the corrupt politicians they’ve bought to steal all that), the Supreme Court has refused to hear Utah’s challenge against the legality of BLM lands.

The suit, which had recently been joined by 12 other states, argued that all 18.5 million acres managed by the Bureau of Land Management in Utah should be turned over to the state government. There, limited budgets would have combined with for-profit and anti-public input mandates in the state’s constitution to force sales of that land for development, energy extraction, and mineral exploitation. The suit blatantly ignored, contradicted, or argued invalid legal precedent for federal management of public lands that dates back to the nation’s founding.