June 9, 2025 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
100+ Organizations Urge Senate Leadership to keep Public Lands Sell-off out of the Budget Reconciliation Bill – 6.9.25
Contacts:
Travis Hammill, DC Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA); (202) 266-0472; travis@suwa.org
Grant Stevens, Communications Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA); (319) 427-0260; grant@suwa.org
Washington, DC – More than 100 organizations urged Senate Leadership today to keep public lands sales sell-off out of the Budget Reconciliation Bill currently being considered by the Senate. This comes following news coverage that Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) is attempting to reintroduce a Public Lands Sell-off Amendment, a similar version of which was recently rejected by the House. Quotes and additional information can be found below.
“Senator Lee’s avowed and oft-stated hatred of public lands makes him a true outlier in the Senate. 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 Travis Hammill, DC Director for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. “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. The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, our members, and our partners will work to defeat this deeply misguided effort.”
“Public lands are part of our national heritage, and people around the country have stood up and said ‘no’ to the MAGA public land fire sale,” said Patrick Donnelly, Great Basin director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “America needs these beautiful places for wildlife, people, clean air and clean water. Sen. Mike Lee is trying to ram public land sell-offs down Westerners’ throats, and we won’t stand for it.”
As stated in the letter:
“The public had no opportunity to participate in the process of identifying these parcels, let alone time to understand the long-term effect of selling off these public lands. Decisions about the future of public lands should remain in public hands.
Leaders in the House and Senate, extractive industry, and private developers are using the reconciliation process to sell off federal lands to pay for billionaire tax cuts. But such moves are deeply unpopular. 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. It is imperative that the budget reconciliation process is not used to sell off public lands.”
Read the full letter here.
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The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) is a nonprofit organization with members and supporters from around the country dedicated to protecting America’s redrock wilderness. From offices in Moab, Salt Lake City, and Washington, DC, our team of professionals defends the redrock, organizes support for America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, and stewards a world-renowned landscape. Learn more at www.suwa.org.
