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Bicknell board considers asking state/BLM to convey nearby public land for flood mitigation and trails
Summary
Board members discussed Representative Malloy’s advice to submit maps and narratives to seek conveyance or exchange of nearby BLM lands, with the town eyeing land near the town water tank for flood mitigation, trails and future infrastructure uses.
Bicknell board members discussed a potential push to have nearby Bureau of Land Management (BLM) parcels conveyed or exchanged to the town after a board member relayed guidance from Representative Malloy at a Utah Association of Counties meeting.
A township contact told the board that Representative Malloy urged counties and municipalities to prepare maps of BLM parcels they want conveyed or exchanged, plus a narrative explaining why the transfer should occur. “Representative Malloy believes the needle will actually move on this,” a staff memo cited at the meeting said, and the board agreed it should take the request seriously and act promptly.
Board members talked through priority areas. Several members said the town should request the BLM land north and east of town around the water-tank site and the base of the mountain, arguing the land could be needed for flood mitigation and trail development. “We need that for flood mitigation. We need it for trails,” a board member said. The board discussed that owning the ground where a future tank would sit could simplify future tank construction because federal NEPA (environmental) reviews would not be required on town-owned land.
Staff noted uncertainty about details—what parcels to request, grazing permit impacts, and whether the county has maps—so the board agreed to collect maps and a narrative and to contact Brock (county or regional staff) and other state contacts, including Celeste and Brock, for guidance. Board members also asked staff to pull maps previously used for emergency-management and flood planning and to coordinate with state emergency-management staff who had already circulated a BLM map for related work.
Board members discussed the political and legal context raised by the memo: state efforts to secure BLM land had seen legal action and the Supreme Court’s posture could change the path to conveyance. The memo said the state had asked the U.S. Supreme Court about taking federal lands and been rebuffed, but counsel suggested that legal avenues and current political dynamics might make conveyance or exchange possible. The board agreed to follow up with Brock and prepare a submission if warranted.
Ending: The board directed staff to gather maps and prepare a narrative describing why the town should request conveyance/exchange of specific BLM parcels, and to report back after consulting with Brock and state contacts about next steps.
