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Across the West, people are speaking out against Utah Senator Mike Lee's proposal to sell off up to 3.2 million acres of public land, which he has attempted to fold into the federal budget reconciliation bill. The provision puts over 100 million acres of national public land at risk of being sold.
Last Friday, Idaho Senators Jim Risch and Mike Crapo came out against the provision, adding to the list of GOP lawmakers who oppose public land sales—a list that includes Montana Representative Ryan Zinke, who led an effort last month to strike down public lands sales from the House version of the reconciliation bill.
Public lands have been trending on social media, including on Instagram, where hunters, ranchers, and conservationists are speaking out against public land sales. The widespread opposition substantiates results of the 2025 Conservation in the West Poll, which found that 82 percent of Westerners favor building more housing near existing communities over selling off public lands to develop housing on natural areas.
Mining companies are knocking at the doors of our national parks
In a new episode of The Landscape podcast, Kate and Aaron talk to experts at the National Parks Conservation Association about illegal mining inside of Mojave National Preserve and a recent uptick in mining claims on public lands, including those near national parks.
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We're talking about a significant amount of public land that our citizens would lose access to.”
