President Donald Trump‘s “big, beautiful bill” passed the U.S. House last night, but without a proposal by Republicans to sell off thousands of acres of public land in America.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports today that the proposal to sell public land in Utah and Nevada was removed after outcry from conservationists, sportsmen and other groups in opposition.
Adopted by the House Natural Resources Committee in early May, the proposal was proposed by Republican Reps. Mark Amodei of Nevada and Celeste Maloy of Utah. Approximately 11,500 acres of Bureau of Land Management land would have been up for sale in southwestern Utah, an area of the state which has seen fast growth. Maloy suggested building affordable housing and addressing water infrastructure concerns, which was supported by the City of St. George, Utah.
Last night, however, Texas Republican Rep. Jodey Arrington removed the possibility of selling the public land via legislation he called a “manager’s amendment.”
“As we hoped would be the case, Rep. Maloy’s stunt failed. She’s just the latest in a long list of politicians with the bad idea to try and sell off public lands,” Travis Hammill, the D.C. director for the environmental nonprofit Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, said in a statement to The Tribune.
According to Hammill, love of public lands transcends geography and political party in America.
“Americans don’t want to see these lands sold off and time and time again have risen up to make their voices heard,” Hammill said.
In testimony last night to the House Rules Committee, Nevada Rep. Susie Lee, a Democrat, called Maloy’s amendment a “Trojan horse Utah land grab” that would “jeopardize[d] Nevada’s water security and could very well derail sensitive and complicated negotiations about the future of the Colorado River.”
The path of a long-stalled project in Utah, the proposed Lake Powell Pipeline to carry water from America’s second-largest reservoir to southwestern Utah, would have coincided with the land sale, which raised concerns for environmentalists. Western states that rely on the Colorado River oppose the pipeline, seen as “a direct threat to Arizona‘s water future” by the Arizona Department of Water Resources.
Outdoor Recreation Roundtable (ORR), which represents the $1.2 trillion outdoor recreation economy of more than 110,000 businesses, praised the removal of the amendment. The ORR sent a letter earlier this week to House Speaker Mike Johnson to emphasize the critical importance of keeping the selling of public lands out of the legislation.
“At a time when the $1.2 trillion outdoor recreation industry is facing significant headwinds, keeping public lands public is a bipartisan, pro-business solution and we are pleased that an amendment that would have sold off public lands and waters was stripped from the budget reconciliation package advancing in Congress,” ORR President Jessica Turner said.
Turner said that keeping public lands and waters open and accessible for all Americans is imperative for economic growth, job creation and public health benefits, as well as attracting investments in gateway communities.
“We believe there may be instances in which small, targeted leases, exchanges or sale-purchase models are in the public’s and recreationists’ interest—and we will work with Congresswoman Maloy and Amodei to better understand their constituents’ needs and find common ground solutions, but reconciliation legislation did not allow for appropriate mechanisms to protect recreation access, funding, or public input or allow revenue generated to stay in local communities for conservation and recreation access,” Turner said.
“A dangerous precedent” was avoided by Congress in proposing that public lands be sold anytime the U.S. Treasury needs to balance the budget.
“We will continue our work with the Trump Administration, Republicans and Democrats standing up for America‘s best return on investment – our public lands and waters,” Turner said.
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Rebecca Barnabi
