124 Acres of Federal Land Slated for Transfer to Price, Utah, Bypassing Standard BLM Protections

This bill, officially titled the Upper Price River Watershed Project Act of 2025, is pretty straightforward: it authorizes the transfer of about 124.23 acres of land currently managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to the City of Price, Utah. The transfer is mandatory if the City of Price asks for it, and it comes with a big asterisk: it explicitly overrides the standard federal land management rules (specifically Sections 202 and 203 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976) that usually govern how the government sells or gives away public land. Essentially, Congress is fast-tracking a land deal for this specific parcel.

The Land Deal: What Price Gets and How

Under Section 3, the City of Price gets control of this land, which is clearly marked on an official map prepared by the BLM. Once the City takes ownership, they can use it for “whatever public purposes they decide it should serve.” That phrase, “public purposes,” is pretty broad. It could mean anything from building a new park or reservoir to constructing a municipal facility or even leasing it out to a private entity if the City deems that a public purpose. The only major restriction is that the transfer must respect any existing legal rights—like utility easements or mining claims—that third parties already hold on the property. This means if a power company has a line running through the land, that line stays, even under new ownership.

Who Pays the Price for Streamlining?

This is where things get interesting for the average person. When the bill sidesteps the usual procedures in the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), it means that the typical public review and environmental analysis processes the BLM usually conducts for land disposal are avoided. For the residents of Price, Utah, this is a clear win: they get local control over a large piece of land that they can develop quickly for community needs. For example, if the City wants to expand a local water treatment facility, this bill cuts the red tape significantly.

However, for the broader public—especially those who value public lands for recreation or conservation—this means 124 acres are permanently removed from the federal public land system. That’s 124 acres the general public loses access to. While the City must use it for a 'public purpose,' that purpose is defined locally, not nationally. Since the bill uses such vague language for the City’s future use, there’s little guarantee that the land will remain open space or be used for a universally beneficial project. It gives the City a lot of freedom, but it also reduces transparency and public input compared to a standard federal land exchange. It’s a classic trade-off: speed and local control versus national oversight and public access protection.