Utah, Feds Ink New Deal to Manage 8 Million Acres of National Forests. Here’s What It Means.

Utah, feds ink new deal to manage 8 million acres of national forests. Here’s what it means.

Gov. Spencer Cox signed a deal Thursday with the U.S. Forest Service that, the parties said, will give Utah a seat at the table in managing more than 8 million acres of national forests while furthering the Trump Administration’s goal of increasing timber production on the land.

In new deal with feds, Utah gets ‘a seat at the table’ in managing national forest land

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz sign an agreement giving Utah a greater role in managing national forest land, at the Utah Capitol on Jan. 8, 2026. (Photo courtesy of Gov. Spencer Cox's office). Utah has had more than 7 million acres of national forest for over a century but not the say it wanted in managing them. That changed Thursday morning when the state finalized a new agreement with the U.S. Forest Service, …

Groups decry Trump deal giving Utah control of national park land

The 20-year cooperative agreement between Utah and the U.S. Forest Service opens up public lands to commercial enterprise. Continue reading…

Utah and U.S. Forest Service enter long-term agreement to strengthen stewardship of National Forests - Utah Policy

Today, the state of Utah entered into a 20-year cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, to help actively manage national forests across Utah. The agreement builds on and strengthens Utah’s Shared Stewardship partnership, which the state and the Forest Service have had in place since 2018, and formalizes a cooperative management framework.  The agreement assigns Utah a greater management-supporting role, all…