On Feb. 22, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum joined Utah Governor Spencer Cox and Utah Senator John Curtis to sign an agreement between the Bureau of Land Management and the Utah Trust Lands Administration to complete the final step of a historic land exchange. According to a press release, “Congress mandated the exchange as part of the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation Management, and Recreation Act of 2019, known locally as the Emery County Land Exchange. Through the exchange, the State of Utah will gain 47 water rights; approximately 83,000 acres with sub-surface mineral estate; approximately 4,000 surface-only acres; and approximately 5,000 acres of sub-surface mineral, oil and gas, and coal-only estate.” In exchange for the rich mineral deposit parcels, the BLM will receive approximately 116,042 acres of isolated state lands, many within protected areas. The public state lands are located across 18 counties in Utah: Beaver, Carbon, Emery, Grand, Iron, Juab, Kane, Millard, Rich, San Juan, Sevier, Summit, Tooele, Uintah, Utah, Wasatch, Washington and Wayne Counties.