Members of Congress are planning to sell off your public lands and increase the amount of logging, timber sales, and industrial development on them in an attempt to reduce the size of the country’s budget for Fiscal Year 2025 through a process that is called “budget reconciliation”.
Congressional intentions to privatize public lands have become increasingly apparent. Last month, one of the first actions taken by the new Congress was the passage of a rules package that makes it easier for Congress to give away and sell off federal public lands. A short time later, a leaked document obtained by Politico Pro revealed Congressional leadership’s proposal to pursue the sale of public lands and increased timber sales on public lands to pay for large tax cuts for wealthy individuals and corporations. There have also been public statements and bill introductions from various Members of Congress that call for the large-scale selloff of public lands. For example, Senator Mike Lee from Utah has introduced legislation that would call for selloffs of public lands for housing development. Unfortunately, Sen. Lee’s legislation is trying to use the very real housing crisis across the West to push his land sale agenda. We anticipate more legislation that will also push the public land sell-off agenda soon.
The agencies already have the authority to sell or swap small parcels of public lands when it serves the public interest. This process is typically carried out in collaboration with local cities and municipalities, ensuring that the land transfer aligns with community needs and development plans. We also have reason to believe that Congress will use the recent termination of more than 5,800 staff from the agencies that manage our public lands (Burean of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) as a pivot to an argument that public lands should be sold off. This is a years-long campaign mounted by anti-public land lawmakers to undermine federal land management, claim that the federal agencies are not able to properly manage the land, and then advocate for the land to be given away or sold off.
If these Members of Congress have their way and begin selling off our public lands, we will lose access to many beloved places and our way of life will be dramatically altered. Think of a California that no longer has public lands open to snow-related activities in the Mammoth Mountain and Lake Tahoe areas. Or a California without access to places to go fishing in the Eastern Sierra to celebrate Fishmas (and the rest of the fishing season). A California where rockhounds can no longer collect in amazing places such as the Cady Mountains. A Shasta-Trinity National Forest that is clear cut and that no longer allows hunters to hunt for deer, black bear, elk, antelope and wild pigs. No Jawbone Canyon and Dove Springs Off-Highway Vehicle areas for people to enjoy thrilling rides on hills with dirt bikes or other off-road vehicles. We could also see an increase in logging along the Pacific Crest Trail where hikers and backpackers flock every year to challenge themselves, including the beloved portion that traverses the Marble Mountain Wilderness and the adjacent lands which hold he largest remaining tracts of old-growth forest in California. The Sacramento River Bend area could be closed off to those of us who have gone there for years to paddle, hike, or ride their horses.
Congress is poised to take away all of this away from you, and more.
A public lands selloff, if enacted, would represent a dramatic shift in federal land policy and a significant loss for all Americans. It would affect everyone who loves and enjoys public lands in California and throughout the West, not just those who ide0ntify as “tree huggers” (or “cactus huggers”!)
Members of Congress are currently working on the country’s budget for Fiscal Year 2025. The deadline for them to come to an agreement is currently March 14th. However, we cannot wait to let them hear from us, since budget negotiations have already begun.
Please contact your member of Congress now to tell them that you strongly object to any large-scale selloff of public lands (or increased timber sales) to be used as part of budget reconciliation or for any other purpose and that you want public lands to stay in public hands. Please also share this action alert with others you know who love our public lands.
Photo: Sierra Bright Dot
