Sen. Mike Lee is reviving a push to sell off public lands in Utah and throughout the West — a move that could affect millions of acres across nearly a dozen states.
Opponents say selling off public lands — a contentious idea that failed in the U.S. House of Representatives when proposed by Utah Rep. Maloy last month — will fund tax cuts for the rich rather than helping communities.
Lee, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, released draft legislation that could become part of President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” on Wednesday evening. It proposes the mandatory sale of Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service land “for housing” in 11 Western states.
“We’re opening underused federal land to expand housing, support local development and get Washington D.C. out of the way of communities that are just trying to grow,” Lee said in a video announcement posted Wednesday night.
“Washington has proven, time and again, it can’t manage this land,” he continued. “This bill puts it in better hands.”
If the legislation is included in the final reconciliation bill, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins must put millions of acres of BLM and Forest Service land up for sale.
Federally protected land — including national parks, national monuments and national recreation areas — would not be eligible for sale under the proposal. Neither are lands with existing mining or grazing rights.
The proposed legislation “stands in stark contrast with Americans’ deep and abiding love of public lands... [and] puts Utah’s red-rock country in the crosshairs of unchecked development,” said Travis Hammill, D.C. director for the nonprofit Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.
“In Utah and the West, public lands are the envy of the country – but Sen. Lee is willing to sacrifice the places where people recreate, where they hunt and fish, and where they make a living – to pay for tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy," he continued.
It’s not the first time Lee has proposed housing development on federal land. Utah’s senior senator has previously introduced the Helping Open Underutilized Space to Ensure Shelter, or HOUSES, Act to build homes on public land.
The legislation released Wednesday does not require the potential housing built on sold public land to be deemed affordable.
Potential roadblocks
When asked about rumors that Lee would propose selling off public lands during a monthly news conference yesterday, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox praised the potential move.
“We need those lands ... using lands in and adjacent to our cities for affordable housing is going to be critical,” he said.
But bipartisan pushback killed Maloy’s public lands sell-off proposal, and could prove to be a challenge for Lee’s plans.
Maloy, whose district spans most of western Utah, and Nevada Rep. Mark Amodei proposed an amendment to the budget reconciliation bill last month that proposed selling about 11,500 acres of BLM land in Utah and nearly 500,000 in Nevada.
That amendment was pulled before the bill went to the House floor for a vote after immense pushback, including from Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke.
With Zinke’s support, the reconciliation bill passed the full House on a razor thin 215-214 vote.
“This was my San Juan Hill; I do not support the widespread sale or transfer of public lands,” Zinke said at the time. “Once the land is sold, we will never get it back.”
Zinke in January introduced a bill that would require Congress to approve any public land sales over 300 acres.
What else is in the proposal?
In the video announcing the proposal, Lee notes that nearly two-thirds of Utah’s land is managed by the federal government.
“That’s not sustainable. It’s not fair. It’s not serving the Americans who actually live here,” Lee said.
The bill directs the Interior and Agriculture Secretaries to publish a list of public land tracts for sale within 60 days of it becoming law. The secretaries must consult with governors, local governments and tribes on public lands’ “suitability...for residential development.”
State and local governments will be offered the right of first refusal for disposed public lands “for community development purposes.”
The list must include details about which lands “would address housing needs (including housing supply and affordability),” according to the legislation, and any public lands marked for disposal must be sold for their fair market value.
The legislation proposes giving each secretary $5 million for the fiscal year 2025 to facilitate the public land sales.
The money generated from public land sales will go to the U.S. Treasury, though 5% of each sale will be distributed to the local government where the sold land is located to support the area’s housing development. Another 5% of sales will go toward maintenance on other BLM and Forest Service land.
The proposal from the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources also includes plans to expand gas, coal, geothermal and timber leasing on public lands.
