Land Purchases

Vermillion Cliffs--Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT

Utah



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Land Purchase with FLTFA Funding

What Lands can be Purchased with FLTFA Funding

Under the provisions of Federal Land Transaction Facilitaiton Act (FLTFA), the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Park Service (the Agencies) can utilize FLTFA funds to purchase inholdings that have been nominated by or with the landowners concurrence, and that are located within a federally designated area, or that are adjacent to a federally designated area and contain exceptional resources.

Inholding: Any right, title, or interest held by a non-federal entity, in or to a tract of land that lies within the boundary of a federally designated area.

Federally designated area: An area, in existence on July 25, 2000, set aside for special management, including national parks, national wildlife refuges, national forests, national monuments, national conservation areas, areas of critical environmental concern, national outstanding natural areas, national natural landmarks, research natural areas, wilderness or wilderness study areas, and units of the Wild and Scenic Rivers System or National Trails System.

Exceptional resource: A resource of scientific, natural, historic, cultural or recreational value that has been documented by a federal, state, or local government authority, and for which there is a compelling need for conservation and protection under the jurisdiction of a federal agency in order to maintain the resource for the benefit of the public.

Lands meeting the above criteria may be nominated for sale to the Agencies by any individual, group or governmental body. If submitted by a party other than the landowner, the nomination must also be signed by the landowner(s) to confirm their willingness to sell. The nomination and identification of an inholding does not obligate the landowner to convey the property nor does it obligate the United States to purchase the property. All purchases must be at fair market value consistent with applicable provisions of the Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisitions.

How to Nominate Lands for Sale

Nominations can be submitted to the Agencies at any time, but will only be considered eligible by the Agencies if:

The nomination package is complete;
A federal land use plan calls for acquisition of the land or interest in land being nominated;
The land does not contain a hazardous substance or is not otherwise contaminated;
The land would not be difficult or uneconomic to manage as federal land; and
Acceptable title can be conveyed in accordance with federal title standards.

Nominations should be sent directly to the Agency having management jurisdiction of the federally designated area that the land is within or adjacent to. The Agencies' addresses and the individuals that nominations should be addressed to are listed below:

Bureau of Land Management Utah State Office PO Box 45155 Salt Lake City, TU 84145-0155 Attn: Joy Wehking	National Park Service Intermountain Region P.O. Box 728 Santa Fe, NM 87504-0728 Attn: Glenna Vigil
U.S. Forest Service Intermountain Region c/o Humboldt Toiyabe National Forest 1200 Franklin Way Sparks, NV 89431 Attn: Naomi Johnson	U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Mountain Prairie Region Division of Realty P.O. Box 25486, DFC Lakewood, CO 80225-0486 Attn: Sue Oliveira

Nomination forms can be downloaded or obtained by contacting the BLM office listed above.

Nomination Form

How Nominations are Prioritized and Processed

Nominations will be assessed and prioritized in accordance with the jointly prepared Utah Interagency Implementation Agreement for FLTFA. Consideration will be given to the amount of funding in the FLTFA account available for land purchase, and to acquisitions that are supported by local government entities. All land purchases must be approved by the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture before the Agencies may proceed. The Agencies will follow the same general procedures to complete approved federal acquisition projects.