House backs Schofield Land Transfer resolution, urges federal action to protect long-held cabin lots

The Utah House on Oct. 3 passed HCR302, a concurrent resolution urging federal action to resolve disputes between roughly 60 cabin-lot owners at Schofield Reservoir and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

Representative Painter told the House his Carbon County constituents face orders to vacate cabins that have been in families for about 70 years because recent survey techniques and a federal assumption about an extreme flood standard (described in the transcript as a "2,500-year" event) resulted in a determination that the lake level should be eight feet higher. Painter said local stakeholders — Carbon County commissioners, a retired judge, attorneys and landowners — spent a year negotiating a legislative settlement with the Bureau of Reclamation and prepared draft congressional legislation that local lawmakers passed to their U.S. representative but that it has not moved in Congress.

Painter said he had asked U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch to advance the federal bill and urged unanimous support in the Utah House, arguing the situation is "an unjust" outcome for property owners who made long-term investments. Representative Henley asked whether raising the lake level was intended to address possible projects such as the Gooseberry Narrows; Painter said the bureau cited a 2,500‑year flood assumption and changed survey techniques, but he expressed skepticism that proposed projects would raise the lake high enough to flood the cabins.

The House voted 73–0 to pass HCR302 and transmit it to the Senate; sponsors said the resolution seeks congressional action to restore property titles or otherwise remedy the cabin owners' status.

The transcript records requests for federal action and references to prior negotiations; it does not show subsequent federal steps. The next procedural step is Senate consideration in the Utah Legislature and any congressional action that may follow.