Senate Republicans have introduced a controversial plan following the House’s approval of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee’s budget reconciliation bill. The original proposal called for selling 2–3 million acres of public land across 11 western states. A June 14th update expanded the figure to over 250 million acres, even permitting the sale of lands with previously exempted grazing permits.
Lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), which include forests, deserts, mountains, and wildlands, could be sold off with virtually no protections. This encompasses Wilderness Study Areas, Areas of Critical Environmental Concern, roadless areas, and even critical habitats.
Here’s what’s at stake in each state:
• Alaska: 82.8 million acres
• Arizona: 14.4 million acres
• California: 16.7 million acres
• Colorado: 14.4 million acres
• Idaho: 21.7 million acres
• Nevada: 33.6 million acres
• New Mexico: 14.3 million acres
• Oregon: 21.7 million acres
• Utah: 18.7 million acres
• Washington: 5.4 million acres
• Wyoming: 15 million acres
This land is a shared treasure for all Americans. It’s the core of our heritage, the backdrop for our recreational activities, the provider of our clean air and water, and the sanctuary for endangered wildlife and sacred Indigenous sites.
“From the moment public land sales originally made it into the House budget reconciliation bill via a shady last-minute amendment, it has been clear lawmakers know such proposals are deeply unpopular. Public land sales only have a prayer of being signed into law if they’re hidden or misrepresented to the American people in some way, which is why Mike Lee has been depicting this as an effort to lightly trim our Forest Service and BLM lands at the margins,” said Michael Carroll, director of the BLM program for The Wilderness Society.
More than 100 conservation organizations have already sounded the alarm, demanding that this disastrous public land sell-off be stripped from the Senate’s reconciliation bill.
Some members of Congress, such as Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), who serves as the chair of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, continue to push for this unprecedented land grab.
A coalition letter sent to Senate leadership warns: “We strongly oppose any attempts to recklessly sell public lands through legislative shortcuts like budget reconciliation, which bypass public input, environmental review, and accountability. Doing so threatens public access, undermines responsible land management, puts environmental values, cultural resources, and endangered species at risk—along with clean drinking water for 60 million Americans—and betrays the public’s trust.”
This proposal represents not only an environmental crisis but also a cultural violation and a betrayal of future generations.
TAKE ACTION! Contact your senators to demand that they vote NO on this disastrous reconciliation bill, which includes the mass sell-off of our public lands, HERE!
