DENVER – The U.S. government wants to make good on a 143-year-old debt it has owed since Colorado became a state by transferring more than 23,000 acres of land and mineral rights to the Colorado State Land Board.
The transfer would be the equivalent value of the 9,900 acres the U.S. government could not deliver when it promised land to the new state to generate revenue for public schools, The Colorado Sun reported.
Colorado received about 4 million acres when it became a state in 1876, but that was short of the amount owed under the government’s formula because much of Colorado’s land on the Western Slope belonged to the Utes at the time.
“This land has been owed to Colorado’s schoolkids in the form of a trust since statehood,” land board spokeswoman Kristin Kemp said.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has proposed transferring 17,700 acres of land and 6,000 acres of mineral estate spread across 16 counties.
The agency is seeking public comment on the proposal, and Kemp said the board hopes a deal can be finalized by summer.
The use of those parcels would not change “in the short term,” she said. But over time, she added, they would be used as other state trust lands are – for agriculture, energy leasing and recreation.
Luke Schafer, Western Slope director for Conservation Colorado, said he doesn’t see any problems with the proposed transfer initially and that it would likely lead to better management for some land parcels.
“Obviously, the devil will be in the details, but I’m not alarmed by anything that is being proposed,” he said.
