Salt Lake City (June 9, 2026) – On June 8, the State of Utah and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) officially finalized a landmark Cooperative Agreement to manage, protect and maintain the 216,995-acre San Rafael Swell Recreation Area in Emery County. This historic agreement marks the culmination of 25 years of intense, dedicated deliberations between the BLM, the Emery County Public Lands Council, Emery County Commissioners, Congress, and conservation groups.
Built directly on the foundation of the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act (passed in February 2019 and signed into law on March 12, 2019), the agreement fulfills a congressional mandate under Section 1222(j) encouraging an innovative partnership to share landscape management responsibilities. The historic legislation was championed by former Rep. John Curtis (now Sen. Curtis) and Sen. Mitt Romney, with decades of foundational work by the late Sen. Orrin Hatch.
“This historic agreement proves that public land management works best when local voices and federal partners work hand in hand,” said Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson. “This isn’t just a local victory for Emery County. This is the new gold standard for how Western states can successfully cooperate with the BLM to influence federal land management.”
The unique co-management framework explicitly defines “cooperation” as meaningful engagement with the intent of developing and achieving shared goals, distinguishing it from the standard “cooperating agency” processes. The Utah Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office (PLPCO) will serve as the state’s primary point of contact, with the critical flexibility to invite Emery County and local municipalities to participate as political subdivisions on a case-by-case basis.
“With this agreement, Utah is not just asking for a seat at the table; we are actively investing our own resources into the upkeep, safety and operational management of our public lands,” said PLPCO Director Redge Johnson. “We have redefined ‘cooperation’ to mean meaningful engagement toward shared goals. By securing the new cooperation measures in this agreement, we are ensuring that Utah’s voice, and the voices of the people of Emery County, remain central to how the San Rafael Swell is managed moving forward.”
Acting BLM Utah State Director Christina Price also noted the value of strengthening federal and state collaboration on public lands.
“Strong collaboration between federal and state partners is essential to effective public lands management, and this agreement demonstrates what that partnership can achieve,” said Price. “By working together with a shared commitment to stewardship, the BLM and the State of Utah can better serve Utahns, protect these remarkable landscapes, and responsibly manage these resources for future generations.”
About the San Rafael Swell Recreation Area
The San Rafael Swell Recreation Area was created as part of the Emery County Public Lands Management Act portion of the 2019 Dingell Act. In addition to creating the 216,995-acre recreation area, the sweeping public lands bill designated over 700,000 acres of Wilderness, conveyed land to the State of Utah for Goblin Valley State Park, and established the Jurassic National Monument.
Collaborative updates on the ongoing management of the area will be shared by PLPCO in coordination with the Division of Outdoor Recreation, the Division of Law Enforcement, and the Department of Natural Resources.