Plan To Sell 250 Million Acres of Public Land Suffers Major Setback

Newsweek

25-06-2025

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The proposal to sell millions of acres of federal land has been voted out of the GOP's tax and spending bill on the basis it could go against the chamber's rules.
Senate Energy Committee Chairman Mike Lee had pushed for the sale of more than 2 million acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) land over the next five years as a way of generating federal income to help cover sweeping tax cuts.
However, the plan was met with opposition by some in the Senate during their deliberations of President Donald Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill."
Newsweek has contacted Lee outside regular hours via email for comment.
Chairman Mike Lee during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing in the Dirksen building on June 18, 2025, in Washington.
Chairman Mike Lee during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing in the Dirksen building on June 18, 2025, in Washington.
Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP
Why It Matters
The U.S. government controls about 28 percent of all the land in the country. Selling federal land to provide more affordable housing for Americans is something Trump has advocating for, but conservation advocacy groups have criticized such plans, arguing that little of the federal land for sale is suitable for housing.
There is also concern among conversation groups about what the sale of federal land means for wildlife and its habitat in those areas—a concern that could become more pressing now that the Trump administration has said it will rescind a 2001 rule that prevented logging on national forest lands.
What To Know
Despite the proposal being struck off the bill, which would have seen millions of acres of land sold across 11 Western states, Lee has made it clear he will not yet accept defeat, that he was "just getting started."
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday night, he wrote: "Housing prices are crushing families and keeping young Americans from living where they grew up. We need to change that."
Lee said that going forward, he would significantly reduce the amount of BLM land in the bill to include only land that is within 5 miles of population centers.
He said he would establish "freedom zones to ensure these lands benefit American families."
He also wrote that farmers, ranchers and recreational users come first and promised to protect them.
"Yes, the Byrd Rule limits what can go in the reconciliation bill, but I'm doing everything I can to support President Trump and move this forward," he said.
While Lee has been planning his next moves to push his proposal forward, conservation groups have been celebrating the Senate's decision.
"This is a victory for the American public, who were loud and clear: Public lands belong in public hands, for current and future generations alike,'' said Tracy Stone-Manning, president of The Wilderness Society. "Our public lands are not for sale."
Meanwhile, Carrie Besnette Hauser, president and CEO of the nonprofit Trust for Public Land, said the ruling was "an important victory in the fight to protect America's public lands from short-sighted proposals that would have undermined decades of bipartisan work to protect, steward and expand access to the places we all share."
What People Are Saying
Patrick Parenteau, a professor of law and senior fellow for climate policy at Vermont Law and Graduate School, told Newsweek: "The Senate Parliamentarian ruled the proposal out of order, but the Senate has not yet voted on the Reconciliation bill. Senator Lee said he intends to revise the proposal to exclude Forest Service lands and narrow the scope for BLM lands and give local communities more say. That might not be enough to satisfy the parliamentarian.
"The repeal of the Roadless Rule would open 58 million acres of Forest Service land to logging, mining and oil and gas development. These are remote areas that would be very expensive to develop. Repealing the rule requires compliance with several federal laws and will be challenged in court. These roadless areas have a lot of bipartisan political support among outdoor recreationists and local communities. I predict a ferocious fight to preserve them."
Senator Mike Lee, on X on Tuesday: "I'm still listening. I'm working closely with the Trump administration to ensure that any federal land sales serve the American people—not foreign governments, not the Chinese Communist Party, and not massive corporations looking to pad their portfolios. This land must go to American families. Period."
Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley, the top Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee: "Democrats will not stand idly by while Republicans attempt to circumvent the rules of [budget] reconciliation in order to sell off public lands to fund tax breaks for billionaires."
Senator Maria Cantwell, a Washington Democrat: [My constituents] "don't want these lands to be luxury resorts or golf courses."
What Happens Next
The Senate will continue to deliberate over the bill and proposals until the self-imposed deadline of July 4.
This story contains reporting from the Associated Press.