June 11, 2025 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SUWA Statement on Senator Lee’s Massive Public Lands Sell-off Proposal – 6.11.25
Lee’s proposal would force the sale of millions of acres of public lands for development to pay for tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy
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 – Today, Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) announced plans to force the sale of millions of acres of public lands across the West to pay for tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy. After refusing to provide details for weeks, he released the Energy and Natural Resources Committee’s text for the FY25 Budget Reconciliation Bill, which is currently being considered by the Senate. The text requires the Department of the Interior and US Forest Service to offer up millions of acres of public land across 11 western states (AK, AZ, CA, CO, ID, NV, NM, OR, UT, WA, and WY) for sale. A statement from SUWA DC Director Travis Hammill can be found below.
“Senator Lee’s never-ending attacks on public lands continue. His hostility stands in stark contrast with Americans’ deep and abiding love of public lands. Senator Lee’s plan puts Utah’s redrock country in the crosshairs of unchecked development,” said Travis Hammill, DC Director for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. “In Utah and the West, public lands are the envy of the country – but Senator 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. The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, our members, and our partners will work to defeat this Bill.”
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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 this world-renowned landscape. Learn more at www.suwa.org.
