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Lawmakers have been discussing selling national public lands as part of a budget reconciliation bill to pay for President Donald Trump's agenda, E&E News reports. While the details are "fuzzy," possibilities include selling land around national parks and near Western cities to build more housing. This proposal would align with a recent initiative from the Interior and Housing and Urban Development departments to identify national public lands that could be used for housing, and a recent announcement from the Bureau of Land Management that it is considering selling lands as far as ten miles from towns with as few as 5,000 people.
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee chair Mike Lee of Utah has signaled his support for the concept. Lee is a longtime critic of the idea of national public lands, and has used the excuse of housing affordability to promote the idea of selling or giving away national public lands to build housing through his HOUSES Act.
Other lawmakers have expressed reservations. Representative Ryan Zinke of Montana stated, "I won't bend on selling our public lands." And a staffer for Senator Steve Daines of Montana stated, "Senator Daines has never and will never support the sale of public lands." Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota tried to explain away these statements, saying, "Montana is so different than the other federal lands states... they like their federal lands [for hunting and other activities]." But according to the Colorado College State of the Rockies Project Conservation in the West poll, voters in all Western states, not just Montana, like their national public lands for hunting and other activities. Just 14 percent of Western voters want to see national public lands sold to develop housing on natural areas.
MacGregor gives a master class in dodging questions
During her confirmation hearing to serve as Deputy Secretary of the Interior, Katharine MacGregor declined to answer direct questions about DOGE layoffs at the Interior department, the White House’s aborted attempt to eliminate two national monuments in California, President Trump’s executive order attempting to make mining the primary use of America’s public lands, and numerous other issues. "The Trump administration has shown it will try everything to avoid accountability," Center for Western Priorities Deputy Director Aaron Weiss said in a statement. "In an already lawless administration, it’s unconscionable for senators to confirm another appointee who appears eager to ignore the courts and the law."
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The administration’s actions are specifically intended to further decrease the functionality of these agencies by significantly cutting resources and demoralizing dedicated staff, with the ultimate goal being to bolster longstanding efforts by industry and their elected backers to sell off and privatize public lands.”
