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


** Map shows exactly which lands could be sold off across the West
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Wednesday, June 18, 2025
Map shows public land eligible for sale under Senate proposal in Colorado; Credit: The Wilderness Society ([link removed]) (Screenshot)

A new map ([link removed]) from The Wilderness Society shows which national public lands could become eligible for sale if a proposal by Senator Mike Lee of Utah remains in the reconciliation package.

Initially, Lee's bill text identified around 120 million acres eligible for sale. But a recent update to the text more than doubled the amount of land eligible for sale, bringing the total acreage to over 250 million ([link removed]) .

Across the West, residents are reacting to seeing some of their favorite spots identified for sale on the map. These include iconic landscapes like the Sandia Mountains ([link removed]) in New Mexico, Sabino Canyon and Mount Lemmon ([link removed]) in Arizona, the Uinta Mountains ([link removed]) in Utah, Lake Tahoe ([link removed]) and Big Sur ([link removed]) in California, Mount Hood ([link removed]) in Oregon, and the Animas Mountains
([link removed]) in Colorado, to name just a few.

“People could have their favorite hiking open space or outdoor areas sold off right out from under their community. It’s a drastic change in what we could see on the ground across the West,” said Michael Carroll ([link removed]) , Bureau of Land Management campaign director for The Wilderness Society.

7,500 employees have left Interior

Nearly 11 percent of the Interior department's staff has left the agency since Trump took office, according to E&E News ([link removed]) . That's a reduction of nearly 7,500 employees who took buyout offers or early retirement in the past five months. These losses are spread across ([link removed]) the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, and Bureau of Reclamation. Additional cuts at Interior and other agencies are widely anticipated ([link removed]) but are on hold due to a federal court injunction.

Happy Juneteenth!

Look West will take tomorrow off to celebrate Juneteenth. National parks and public lands will be fee-free tomorrow ([link removed]) to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States.


** Quick hits
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Here's which public lands could be for sale across the West

KUNM ([link removed]) , KRQE ([link removed]) [NM] | Cortez Journal ([link removed]) , Denver Post ([link removed]) [CO] | Park City News
([link removed]) , ABC4 Utah ([link removed]) [UT] | CBS News ([link removed]) , KSBW ([link removed]) , South Tahoe Now ([link removed]) [CA] | BikePortland ([link removed]) [OR] | Arizona Daily Star ([link removed]) [AZ] | WyoFile ([link removed]) [WY] | Idaho
Statesman ([link removed]) [ID] | KLAS ([link removed]) [NV]

Why aren't these off-road companies standing up for public lands?

RideApart ([link removed])

Rancher blocks public access to BLM land in Eastern Montana

Billings Gazette ([link removed])

Here are national monuments Trump could dismantle

E&E News ([link removed])

Editorial: Sell-off of public lands a ruinous budget solution

Everett Herald ([link removed])

Feds green light Oak Flat copper mine, putting sacred Tribal land at risk

Arizona Republic ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed])

Signs to police 'negative' history went up at Manzanar. Historians aren't happy

SFGATE ([link removed])

Opinion: My Idaho business relies on public lands, which are now in danger

Idaho Statesman ([link removed])


** Quote of the day
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” Washington is trying to tell Colorado what land is for sale... This is a top-down tyrannical execution of authority that strips Colorado and our local communities of our ties to some of our most sacred landscapes.”

—Senator John Hickenlooper of Colorado, Durango Herald ([link removed])


** Picture This
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@usinterior ([link removed])
This Thursday, entrance fees will be waived at all Interior-managed public lands in honor of Juneteenth.

It's a chance to reflect, explore and connect with the landscapes that tell America's story.

Photo at @shenandoahnps by Nitin J Sanket

Alt Text: The Milky Way is in full view with one tree in a large open meadow.

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