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Section of Comb Ridge To Be Auctioned in October

Friends of Cedar Mesa Website (Google Earth imagery)

A square mile of state-owned land six miles west of Bluff, Utah, on scenic Comb Ridge will apparently be put up for auction in October.

The land is owned by the State Institutional Trust Lands Administration, or SITLA, whose mission is to manage such parcels to raise money for beneficiaries, mainly public schools. SITLA Deputy Director Ken Christy tells KSJD the local Hole in the Rock Foundation is interested in buying the parcel. But a conservation nonprofit is raising concerns. On its website, Friends of Cedar Mesa says if the land becomes private, future owners might restrict public access or allow oil-drilling, mining, or commercial development.

But foundation board member Lynn Stevens says the foundation wants to use the tract for educational youth hikes and doesn’t plan to change public access. Stevens says he doesn’t expect much competition to buy the parcel because it is “90 percent sandstone.” The tract is part of an area proposed for inclusion in the Bears Ears National Monument or for a national conservation area that could be created through federal legislation. But Christy says the decision has already been made to put it up for bid. Representatives of SITLA, the Hole in the Rock Foundation and the Bluff Service Area District have organized an informational public meeting about the sale June 7th at 7 p.m. in the Bluff Community Center.

Gail Binkly is a career journalist who has worked for the Colorado Springs Gazette and Cortez Journal, and was the editor of the Four Corners Free Press, based in Cortez.
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