Over 100 conservation organizations urge US Senate to stop sale of public lands
The letter, which includes several Utah-based nonprofits, comes after it was reported that Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) said he would try to allowing the public lands sale to the 'big, beautiful' budget bill.
The provision was first added by Reps. Celeste Maloy (R-UT-2) and Mark Amodei (R-NV-2) before it was that passed the House of Representatives in late May.
In their letter, the 113 organizations said the public had no opportunity to identify what lands would be up for sale and had no time to understand the long-term effects of any potential sale.
The letter reads, in part, 'Polling has repeatedly shown that the public – especially westerners – strongly believes in keeping public lands in public hands and, across partisan lines, rejects any efforts that would lead to the sale of these shared and cherished lands. The Senate should heed how dramatically unpopular this idea is and reject any misguided attempt to get public lands sales back in this bill.'
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ABC4 has reached out to Sen. Lee's office for comment and has yet to hear back at the time of publication.
Critics opposing the authorization of the public lands sale say public lands are part of the country's heritage and are places for people to be in nature.
'America needs these beautiful places for wildlife, people, clean air and clean water,' said Patrick Donnelly, the Great Basin director at the Center for Biological Diversity. 'Sen. Mike Lee is trying to ram public land sell-offs down Westerners' throats, and we won't stand for it.'
Travis Hammill, the DC director for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA), previously criticized Sen. Lee's intent to re-add the provision to the budget bill, calling him a 'true outlier' in the U.S. Senate.
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'His apparent intention to include a public lands sell-off provision in the budget bill, which was fiercely opposed in the House, is wildly out of step with what Americans have made clear that they want to see: federal public lands remaining in public hands,' said Hammill. 'These are the places people recreate with their families, they are places to hunt and fish, and they are held in trust for the American people to enjoy for generations to come.'
City officials in Utah have previously told ABC4.com that, if approved, any federal lands purchased by the city would be used for a 'variety of purposes.' St. George, for example, said lands would be used to protect well sites near the Gunlock Reservoir and secure lands for future expansions of the St. George Regional Water Reclamation Facility and the St. George Regional Airport.
Officials also indicated that a small percentage of land would be used for the construction of affordable housing. However, SUWA warns that the current language of the provision would allow for the federal lands to be sold for golf courses, luxury resorts, strip malls, or simply to be flipped and sold again.
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