The Natural Resources Division provides legal and litigation support to the Utah Department of Natural Resources and its divisions, including Forestry, Fire & State Lands; Oil, Gas & Mining; Parks & Recreation; Water Resources; Water Rights; Wildlife Resources; and the Utah Geological Survey. The division also represents and supports the Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office and the Constitutional Defense Council in matters involving the protection, use, stewardship, and conservation of Utah’s public lands, roads, and natural resources.
From safeguarding Utah’s interstate water allocations to advancing the state’s agricultural and resource interests, the division addresses a broad range of complex legal challenges. Through focused counsel and skilled advocacy, the Natural Resources Division ensures that the agencies entrusted with Utah’s lands and waters can responsibly manage, develop, and preserve the state’s natural heritage for future generations.
In 2025, the division supported significant progress by the Division of Outdoor Recreation in expanding its recreation easement program, ensuring that lands acquired through grant funding remain permanently open for public use. The team also partnered with the Division of Wildlife Resources to secure public and hunter access to key lands in the Book Cliffs through successful negotiations with the Ute Tribe, and provided critical legal support during wildfire-related hunt closures—protecting access while balancing conservation, public safety, and cooperative land stewardship.
Through focused counsel and skilled advocacy, the division ensures that the agencies entrusted with Utah’s lands and waters can responsibly manage, develop, and preserve the state’s natural heritage for future generations.
major legal projects
administrative actions
In the long-running Bellwether Case, the State of Utah and its county partners have secured legal title to most of the contested R.S. 2477 rights-of-way in Kane and Garfield Counties. These rulings affirm critical public access routes across federal lands and reinforce Utah’s authority to manage historic rights-of-way. Litigation remains ongoing on the issue of scope, but the State’s position has been strongly upheld to date.
Our team advised and supported the Office of Energy Development as the agency advanced several high-impact initiatives, including new energy research partnerships, expansion of the San Rafael Energy Lab, and the launch of the Utah Energy Research Board and Utah Nuclear Consortium. Ongoing negotiations regarding the Intermountain Power Plant and emerging reactor technology underscore Utah’s growing role as a national leader in energy innovation.
