Committee member seeks transfer of 295.89 acres to Fruit Heights to connect trail segments
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Summary
A House Natural Resources Committee member told the committee that the Fruit Heights Land Conveyance Act would transfer 295.89 acres from the Uinta‑Wasatch‑Cache National Forest to Fruit Heights, Utah, for trail connections and maintenance; a request to enter letters of support into the record was objected to (objector not identified in the transcript).
A member of the House Natural Resources Committee urged the panel to consider the Fruit Heights Land Conveyance Act, saying the bill would transfer 295.89 acres of undesignated federal land in the Uinta‑Wasatch‑Cache National Forest to the city of Fruit Heights in Davis County, Utah, for public purposes and trail maintenance.
The lawmaker told the committee the conveyance is intended to connect two currently disconnected portions of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail and to expand the existing Fruit Loops trail system. “This bill would convey 295.89, to be exact, acres of undesignated federal land within the Uinta Wasatch Cache National Forest to the city of Fruit Heights in Davis County, Utah,” the lawmaker said, emphasizing the acreage.
In framing the proposal, the member cited Utah’s extensive public lands and trail use and argued that local control can be better positioned to maintain heavily used trails. He said difficulties coordinating maintenance with the U.S. Forest Service have led to degraded trail quality and to the creation of unofficial paths that “make it profoundly confusing and very difficult to navigate,” increasing vegetation disturbance.
The presenter sought to clarify the bill’s limits: “To be crystal clear, this bill has nothing to do with additional development in and around Fruit Heights,” he said, and noted the text includes a reversion clause that would return the 295.89 acres to federal ownership if the city violated the restriction that the land be used only for public purposes.
He thanked Congresswoman Malloy for being an original cosponsor and listed local groups and jurisdictions that had voiced support, then asked unanimous consent to place those letters of support into the hearing record. The transcript records an objection to that request; the objection is not identified by speaker in the transcript.
The committee member closed by thanking his constituent, Darren Fransdon, for testifying and yielded back the remainder of his time. The transcript does not record further action on the bill during these segments.