‘A huge victory': Vasquez touts nixing of public lands sell-off in Congressional bill
The Republican reconciliation bill that cleared the United States House of Representatives by a narrow margin this week no longer authorizes the sale of thousands acres of public land in Utah and Nevada.
U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-NM), who co-founded the Bipartisan Public Lands Caucus earlier this year, said the removal of that provision represents a 'huge victory' for all Americans concerned about public lands being sold to the highest bidder. Vasquez said in a statement he started the caucus with U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke, a Montana Republican, to beat back these attacks on public lands.
'We committed to working across party lines to sit down and ensure the integrity of our land management system. We've worked together across the aisle to prevent this unprecedented public lands sell-off,' Vasquez said. 'We will continue to work together to ensure our lands are public, accessible and well managed.'
U.S. Reps. Vasquez (D-N.M.) and Zinke (R-MT) launch new bipartisan public lands caucus
The provision would have gutted protections for 500,000 acres of land near Zion National Park, along with critical habitat for threatened desert tortoises and other areas designated by Congress for conservation, according to New Mexico Wild, a conservation advocacy group. That could have meant the lands were turned into 'golf courses, luxury resorts or strip malls,' the group said in a statement Thursday.
Environmental groups nationally have applauded the removal of the provision, which Reps. Celeste Maloy (R-Utah) and Mark Amodei (R-Nevada) sponsored. New Mexico Wild's executive director Mark Allison said the bipartisan pushback was a factor in maintaining the land's protections, but he warned that this is the first of many fights in coming days to stave off efforts to privatize public lands.
'The fact that House Republicans were forced to retreat shows that when we unite to defend our birthright, politicians listen,' he said in a statement. 'But make no mistake — this fight is far from over. The same forces that tried to sneak this land grab through would love nothing more than to come after New Mexico's public lands next time.'
The reconciliation bill now heads to the Senate.
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