LOGAN -- The federal government would face a Dec. 31, 2014 deadline to dispose of most of its public lands in Utah under a bill proposed by a state lawmaker.
Rep. Ken Ivory wants the state to exert rights that he claims are rooted in the Utah Enabling Act, which led to Utah's statehood in 1896.
The West Jordan Republican told Logan's Herald Journal that a Utah Public Lands Commission would be created to manage the public land for multiple use, and some land could be sold to private parties.
Ivory's measure also would cede national park land to the federal government under some conditions.
The bill is part of the decades-old Sagebrush Rebellion that has been waged by some western states to wrest control of public lands from the federal government.
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