(Salt Lake City, UT) - During a news conference on Utah’s public lands management Tuesday, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) announced that this would be his last campaign and his final term in the United States Senate.

Hatch joined with Congressman Rob Bishop (R-Utah), former Congressman Jim Hansen (R-Utah), Utah Lt. Governor Greg Bell, state legislators, education officials and land managers Tuesday to discuss federal ownership of 63 percent of Utah lands and the financial implications it imposes on our schools and school children. Hatch discussed the recent passage by the Utah Legislature of the Utah Transfer of Public Lands Act and the need for all stakeholders in Utah to work together to ensure that the state has control over it's public lands and the access to roads and natural resources.

Hatch made it clear that his upcoming term would be his last in the United States Senate and wanted to make Utah’s public land management a hallmark of his service.

Hatch said, “I was a leader of the Sagebrush Rebellion that started during my first term in the Senate. The state has made it clear that they expect the land to be conveyed by the end of 2014. I want to see the transfer of land happen, and the end of the need for a Sagebrush Rebellion, during my last term in the Senate," he said.