US Senate Committee Bid To Sell Off Up To 2.8 Million Public Acres Condemned

Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership and Trout Unlimited are blasting a US Senate committee’s proposal that they say would force the sale of up to 3 million acres of public land in the West, including potentially in Washington, Idaho and Oregon.

It’s a sharp expansion from a previous plan that reared its ugly head in the US House this spring and looked at selling off only half a million acres and in just Utah and Nevada before being pulled after strong Republican pushback.

This latest proposal was released this evening by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which is chaired by Utah Senator Mike Lee (R), and according to a one-pager promoting it as one of several “conservative wins” in the overall package, selling eligible BLM and Forest Service lands in 11 states would “(unlock) land for millions of affordable homes.”

That pipe dream was termed “a fraudulent scheme to swindle American citizens out of our shared legacy” in a response from BHA President and CEO Patrick Berry.

“Our public lands are not disposable assets and the gaslighting campaign claiming this is somehow a solution to a housing crisis is an insult to all of us. Our lands are the physical inheritance of generations of Americans who fought to keep public lands in public hands. We owe it to those who had the vision to create this irreplaceable American ideal – and to those who stand to benefit from our stewardship – to tell our elected officials: united we stand for public lands,” Berry said in a press release.

TRCP called the proposal’s acreage target – no less than .50 percent and no more than .75 percent of both BLM and USFS lands – “arbitrary” and said that if it were to pass, “sportsmen and women would lose access to large tracts of public land.”

It amounts to a reported 1.86 million to 2.8 million acres.

“There have been no public processes that led to the conclusion that this acreage of land sales is needed to support affordable housing,” TRCP added in a press release.

Both organizations were among the 44 conservation groups, including the American Sportfishing Association, Boone and Crockett Club, Delta Waterfowl, NWTF, National Wildlife Federation, Pheasants Forever, Pope and Young Club, RMEF, Trout Unlimited and the Wild Sheep Foundation, among others, that last week called on Senate leadership to keep public land disposals out of the proposal.

The language requiring the sale is in what’s known as a reconciliation bill. Under it, BLM and USFS lands in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming would be eligible for disposal after being identified by each agency’s secretaries and following consultations with governors, local governments and tribes.

“Conspicuously absent” from the list of states is Montana, as Andrew McKean of Outdoor Life points out. Representative Ryan Zinke (R) was one of six Republicans whose opposition to the House proposal scuttled it last month, and one of the Treasure State’s US Senators, Steve Daines, is also opposed to selling public land.

National parks, preserves, monuments, recreation areas, wildlife refuges, hatcheries, wildernesses, wild and scenic rivers, historic sites, battlefields and certain other national lands would be exempt under Senator Lee’s proposal.

“We’re opening underused federal land to expand housing, support local development and get Washington, DC out of the way of communities that are just trying to grow,” he claimed in a video statement tonight, adding, “To our hunters, anglers and sportsmen, you will not lose access to the lands you love.”

Chris Wood of Trout Unlimited wasn’t biting the bait, calling public lands “the backyard of the little guy” but which would be put “on the chopping block for the rich to erect fences and no trespassing signs.” 

“These lands are the cornerstone of America’s rich conservation legacy. They support high paying family wage jobs. They are the sources of the finest fish and wildlife habitat and fishing and hunting in the nation. They represent most of the land that any of us will ever own, and importantly, pass on to our kids and grandkids. The misguided and dark of night inclusion of public land sales in the Senate bill is an affront to common sense and a direct threat to America’s land legacy,” Wood, TU’s CEO and president, said in a statement.

Lee’s move also “sidesteps” the Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act, which provides for selling public ground while ensuring that sale proceeds benefit access and conserving land, “not cover budget shortfalls,” as BHA puts it in an action alert encouraging members to contact their Congressmen.

Revenues would not be plowed back into buying replacement public land but be dumped into the US Treasury, McKean reports.

“TRCP stands ready to work with lawmakers to address the needs of local communities to create affordable housing, but reconciliation is not the process for that kind of deliberative, transparent decision-making,” said the organization’s president and CEO, Joel Pedersen. “Once public lands are sold, they are gone for good. We urge the Senate to remove this provision from the bill.” 

It’s also being opposed by the ranking Democrat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

“Senate Republicans think they can get away with taking a sledgehammer to our national public lands, killing thousands of American jobs, and jacking up families’ electricity costs without being held accountable. To hell with that,” stated Senator Martin Heinrich (D-New Mexico). “In the days ahead, you’ll hear a lot of excuses from Republicans trying to cover for what they’re doing. Do not believe it. This isn’t about building more housing or energy dominance. It’s about giving their billionaire buddies YOUR land and YOUR money.”

Editor’s notes: For more and better coverage, see this MeatEater article. This article was updated June 12, 2025, at 11:12 a.m., folding in more comments from Senator Lee as well as a statement from Chris Wood, Trout Unlimited president and CEO.