Utah's inland port network just planted a big new flag in the Uinta Basin.
On Monday, the Utah Inland Port Authority voted to adopt the Black Gold Project Area in Duchesne County and the city of Roosevelt, locking in a roughly 2,780-acre inland-port planning zone aimed at coordinating infrastructure investments and boosting year-round jobs beyond energy and agriculture. Local leaders have pitched the project as a way to recruit logistics, manufacturing, warehousing and information-technology firms that could help steady the Uinta Basin economy when oil markets start to whiplash. The decision triggers a public process phase, including work on a project plan, budget and environmental review, that will decide how the port's tools are actually deployed on the ground.
The board approved the move during a meeting in Duchesne County, where members took up Resolution 2026-18 and passed it unanimously, as reported by KSL. The meeting, held at the Duchesne County Centennial Event Center, followed a string of other project-area and budget votes. Details for the March 16 session, including the agenda and supporting materials, are posted on the Port Authority's meeting page, according to the Utah Inland Port Authority.
The Port Authority's draft Black Gold Project Area Plan describes the zone as about 2,780 acres spread across noncontiguous parcels in Duchesne County and Roosevelt and includes maps, a preliminary budget and staff recommendations. The document notes that Duchesne County and Roosevelt previously approved resolutions consenting to the project and lists tools the authority could deploy, including tax-differential financing and infrastructure loans, to help build roads, utilities and other logistics infrastructure. The draft also places Black Gold inside the broader Uinta Basin freight network, citing basin crude production along with heavy truck and rail movements that the project area is positioned to serve according to the Port Authority's draft project plan.
Duchesne Mayor Deborah Herron, who also serves as the county's economic development director, told KSL that the inland-port structure will help the region "build a more resilient and diversified economy" by drawing new businesses while keeping local control intact. Roosevelt planning director Drew Eschler told the outlet the initiative backs coordinated infrastructure planning and gives communities a better shot at riding out the classic boom-and-bust cycles. UIPA Executive Director Ben Hart described the plan as a tool to encourage private investment and set the region up for logistics-supportive and value-added industries.
How Black Gold Fits Into Utah's Inland-Port Network
Black Gold joins a growing slate of inland-port project areas the authority is rolling out around the state, and its adoption on the March 16 agenda arrived alongside several other project-area resolutions and budget actions. UIPA's meeting materials and project-area listings show the authority moving multiple rural and regional plans through the same approval pipeline as it builds out a statewide logistics strategy, according to the Port Authority's public meeting page.
Legal Process And Landowner Rights
The draft plan emphasizes that local land-use authority stays with Duchesne County and Roosevelt and that landowners inside the proposed footprint can request exclusion in writing within 45 days after UIPA's public meeting, per the project documents. It also explains how a property-tax differential (tax increment) and other financing mechanisms would operate and states that a full environmental review must be completed before UIPA can move forward with certain projects, according to the draft project plan.
With the board's adoption in hand, the authority now shifts into the next stages of public review, budgeting and environmental study before tools such as tax differentials or infrastructure loans can be put into play. Residents and landowners who want to follow the paperwork or submit written comments can review the posted meeting materials and contact the Port Authority through its public meeting page for instructions.
