By McKenzie Romero | Editor
The deal is done. About 50,000 acres of roadless area near the Book Cliffs in Grand County has been sold from one state agency to another for a price tag of nearly $30 million.
Supporters of the deal say the sale preserves the area beloved by hunters and outdoor enthusiasts. But critics fear giving up the property short-changes the state’s public school students, who previously benefited from it.
In today’s Dispatch we break down the Utah Trust Land Administration’s sale of the Book Cliffs land, why fewer driver’s licenses could mean fewer young voters, and the high costs that have Americans going hungry.
“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity that is of value to all parties.” — House Majority Leader Casey Snider, who sponsored a bill in 2024 that allowed for the sale of the Book Cliffs land to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.
A storm moves in near Green River, Utah, with Book Cliffs mesa in the background. (Redtea/Getty Images)
By Katie McKellar
For years, state leaders have wanted to see the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources buy the land in the Book Cliffs area in order to permanently preserve public access. The land has long been part of the Utah Trust Lands Administration’s investment portfolio, generating less than $125,000 a year in permits and fees prior to the sale.
Critics have questioned whether the use of funds pulled out of the education stabilization account to buy the trust land for DWR could potentially violate the Utah Constitution’s requirements that income tax revenue only be spent on public education, with few exceptions.
I-15 near Point of the Mountain in Lehi is pictured on Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)
DC BUREAU
By Jonathan Shorman
American teens are driving less than in previous decades, prompting civic advocates to warn that fewer young people may register to vote. Since Congress passed the National Voter Registration Act in 1993, nearly all states must allow residents to register to vote at motor vehicle offices, but fewer teens are obtaining driver’s licenses today.
Young people represent a large pool of potential voters for candidates ahead of the midterm elections this November and the presidential election in 2028. Still, voting advocates worry barriers to registration will keep many of them from the polls.
Blanca Rivera and her daughter, Camilla, 3, select items at the Joyce Hansen Hall Food Bank, which is run by Catholic Community Services, in Ogden on Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)
STATELINE
By Kevin Hardy
Families are facing rising grocery prices at the same time that many of the most vulnerable are losing access to the nation’s largest food assistance program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.
More than 4 million Americans lost SNAP benefits between February 2025 and this February, according to analyses of the most recent federal data. The numbers are expected to increase as states whittle the rolls further as required by the broad tax and spending law President Donald Trump signed last summer, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
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