On behalf of the public school beneficiary, the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA) sold 1,120 trust land acres at public auction today, generating $3,066,500 for public schools. The Needles Outpost, a 640-section located just outside the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park and within the recently-designated Bears Ears National Monument in San Juan County, sold for $2.5 million. Conservationist and philanthropist Jennifer Speers purchased the Needles Outpost. Future plans may include turning the outpost over to a conservation organization, such as The Nature Conservancy. Two other parcels were sold today: Cedar City residential lots for $165,500; and 480-acre Rip Gut Creek parcel for $401,000. The Green River East parcel did not sell. Also, a parcel to be sold on behalf of Utah State University was not sold. Since its creation in 1994, SITLA has auctioned an estimated 59,686 acres from the 3.4 million acre trust lands portfolio. Since 1994, SITLA has contributed more than $1.4 billion to the permanent funds for public schools, state hospitals, colleges, and universities, which total $2.2 billion. The Permanent School Fund has provided more than $310 million to Utah K-12 schools since 2005.