Even homebuilders agree that most public land doesn't make sense for development

Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities


** Opening public land to development won't solve the housing crisis
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Friday, September 20, 2024
Suburban sprawl near Las Vegas, Nevada, John Krzesinski via Flickr ([link removed]) /CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 ([link removed])

Proposals to open up public lands for housing development are attracting increasing attention ([link removed]) , especially in Utah and Nevada where elected officials have been vocal in their support of this concept. But a growing number of people are realizing that the West's housing affordability crisis won't be solved by simply making i ([link removed]) t easier to privatize and develop public land ([link removed]) . Location, local land use policies, infrastructure requirements, and affordability guardrails are just some of the many other considerations that influence whether and where housing can and should be built on public land.

Even homebuilders agree that most public land doesn't make sense for housing development. "The vast majority of federal land in Utah is kind of irrelevant to this discussion. It's not in the path of growth. It doesn't have any sort of intrinsic value for solving housing affordability,” Stacy Young, the Southern Utah Home Builders Association's government affairs director, told KUER ([link removed]) . “It's a very tiny, tiny percentage of federal land that would ever make sense."

In a July 2024 Westwise blog post ([link removed]) , Center for Western Priorities Communications Manager Kate Groetzinger dug into the question of what role public land can and should play in addressing housing affordability in the West. As a handful of successful examples demonstrate, targeted methods of developing public land for housing can be helpful, but only after local governments have implemented reforms that free up existing housing stock, incentivize dense development, and ensure affordability.


** Quick hits
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Feds poised to approve lithium mine entangled with endangered flower

E&E News ([link removed]) | KSNV ([link removed]) | Associated Press ([link removed])

Zombie wells: The threat beneath

ABC News ([link removed]) | Denver7 ([link removed])

How fire remakes Montana's landscapes

Montana Free Press ([link removed])

What the Colorado River crisis says about America

Time ([link removed])

Without Chevron deference, what comes next for public lands?

Sierra Nevada Ally ([link removed])

NM Environment secretary says oil, gas fee increase would help ensure permits, inspections done right

Santa Fe New Mexican ([link removed])

Opinion: Colorado should adopt strong cumulative impact rules for oil and gas

Golden Transcript ([link removed])

The story behind Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni

Arizona Highways ([link removed])


** Quote of the day
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” This land is a living entity. And right now, as we hear the wind moving through the trees, that is our ancestors acknowledging our presence.”

—Stuart Chavez, Havasupai Tribal member, Arizona Highways ([link removed])


** Picture This
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@mypubliclands ([link removed])
Happy 28th anniversary to Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument! 🎉

From its spectacular cliffs and terraces to the wonders of the Escalante River Canyons, the Monument’s size, resources, and remote character provide extraordinary opportunities for research, education, and exploration.

📷 Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument; BLM

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