Abstract
In 1894, in preparation for Utah statehood, the federal government granted Utah nearly six million acres of public land for the support of public schools ("school lands"). Initially, Utah disposed of approximately one third of its school lands through sales and other actions. However, as federal policies favoring public land retention shifted during the twentieth century, Utah's pace of school land disposition rapidly declined. Today, Utah retains nearly 3.7 million acres of school lands, comprising eighty-five percent of all of Utah's state-owned lands, scattered in a checkerboard pattern throughout the state. Income from school lands, along with investment income from the proceeds of previously sold lands, provides approximately one percent of Utah's total annual finding for public schools.
Recommended Citation
Bowlin, Tacy
(1994)
"Rethinking the ABCs of Utah's School
Trust Lands,"
Utah Law Review: Vol. 1994:
No.
2, Article 10.
Available at:
https://dc.law.utah.edu/ulr/vol1994/iss2/10