Utah's High-Stakes PR Campaign to Wrest Control of Public Lands

Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes speaks at the Utah State Capitol in Salt Lake City, last year after state leaders announced they are suing the federal government over 18.5 million acres of Bureau of Land Management land, which covers about 34% of Utah.Saige Miller / KUER via High Country News This story was originally published by High Country News and Public Domain and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Last year, as Utah prepared to file a federal lawsuit aiming to take control of millions of acres of federal public land within its borders, state officials sought help swaying public opinion in their favor. So they turned to a group of public relations professionals at Penna Powers, a media and branding firm based in Salt Lake City. Backed with a commitment of more than two million in taxpayer funds, the firm sprang into action. One of the early orders of business was studying the opposition. In June 2024, an assistant attorney general sent an email to numerous state government colleagues and Penna Powers staffers that contained a video from the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP) in which the well-known hunter and media personality Randy Newberg described the dangers of transferring federal land to state control.