This article is based in part on an amicus brief the Sutherland Institute has filed with the U.S. Supreme Court in Utah v. United States.

In Utah v. United States, the state of Utah is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a lawsuit challenging the federal government’s practice of indefinitely holding on to a large percentage of land in the state without a specific purpose. This deprives the state and its citizens of the ability to manage and benefit from the lands around them. It also undercuts the principle of federalism. The court should accept Utah’s case and give the state a chance to make its argument against this federal overreach.

Overwhelming amounts of land in the Western states are actually owned by the federal government, nearly 70 percent of the state of Utah alone. According to the state, about half of Utah’s federal land is “unappropriated,” meaning the federal government has not designated it for any particular use (like a national park or a military base). This is in contrast to much smaller proportions of federally owned land in the Eastern and Midwestern states.

Federal land ownership is actually addressed in the U.S. Constitution. As the motion filed by the state of Utah notes, the U.S. Constitution gives the federal government authority to govern the District of Columbia and........

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