Here’s a quick update so that you know where we stand as we head into the weekend.
As of this (Friday) evening, the demand to sell over 3.3 million acres of public land is in the Senate version of Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill.” There are no Republican Senators or Representatives who have done anything but promise to pass that bill by July 4, so there is real danger in this moment. Even more frightening is the language in the bill that qualifies more than 255 million additional acres as eligible for sale. The New York Times reported that Senators Lee and Daines have crafted this plan, including the maps and acreages. This is a section from that NYT article detailing the cooperation between Daines and Lee:
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Senator Mike Lee, the Utah Republican who leads the energy committee, said that the move would turn “federal liabilities into taxpayer value, while making housing more affordable for hardworking American families.”
Jordan Roberts, a spokesperson for the committee, said Mr. Lee had “worked closely” with Senator Steve Daines, Republican of Montana, to “incorporate key feedback, including ensuring a transparent public process.”
Mr. Daines, who has previously criticized the concept of selling federal lands, did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
Screen capture of wilderness society map - orange and green are for sale - AK is even worse - click on the link above to see the entire map
It should be noted that Montana is exempt from this map, an apparent proof point for the deal-making between Daines and Lee. No one I know is falling for that juvenile trickery.
At the time of this writing, over in the House, Zinke has posted that he is a “NO” on public lands sales even as he promises to support the Senate bill. He also remains loudly in favor of the remainder of the legislation which is detailed here by Outdoor Life’s Andrew McKean who published an article warning of the disastorus impacts of the Republican bill that “include the reinstatement of withdrawn mineral leases for metal mining in the watershed of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, opening vast areas of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration, cuts to land-management agencies that are expected to impact visitation as early as this summer, an eye-popping expansion of coal mining and timber harvesting on public land, expedited permitting, and prohibition on protests of most natural-resources regulations.” McKean also highlighted the incredibly dangerous portions of the bill that provide the largest corporations on Earth to simply buy their way out of any review or litigation when their massive projects impact things like clean water or critical wildlife; “It would revise the National Environmental Policy Act to allow private project sponsors to pay an optional fee of 125 percent of the estimated cost of a NEPA analysis for expedited review. Decisions in this opt-in arrangement would be immune from judicial review. Most leasing provisions in the bill have a rider that makes those projects immune from litigation.”5
KEEP THROWING LOGS ON THE FIRE BECAUSE HERE’S THE HOPEFUL NEWS: Republican Senate staffers are getting swamped with calls from folks like you because you are a part of a growing groundswell of opposition to the Republican plan for this sell-off.
This thing is really bad, and I’m reminded of an LBJ quote about pending legislation that summarizes what Republicans must be thinking; “For God sakes, don’t let dead cats stand on your porch. They stunk and they stunk and they stunk.’ When you get one of your bills out of that committee, you call that son of a bitch up before they can get their letters written.”
Well, this one sure does stunk, and Repubs are racing, but even people with plugged noses are catching the whiff. Today, I noted with amazement the first-ever examples of gun companies openly opposing a MAGA bill. I’ve never seen this!
Social Media Post from Savage Arms - first ever example of a gun company opposing MAGA legislation
In addition, some notable MAGA influencers in the outdoor industry are also attacking the Republican plan. The RV industry, which is one of Indiana’s largest employers, also weighed in with opposition, stating:
“Selling off public lands in this manner will not solve the real challenges our federal land agencies face—including underfunding, crumbling infrastructure, and staffing shortages. To truly sustain and grow our $1.2 trillion outdoor recreation economy, we must address these head-on through smart investments in our land management agencies, innovation, technology, partnerships, and bipartisan policy solutions.”
Lastly…At Public Land Warriors, the advocacy organization I co-founded and that many of you supported, we launched our first ad this week, targeting Zinke. Our next ad targeting Gabe Evans in Colorado will go live next week. Every penny we raise goes straight to this effort! We are moving down the hit list and will not stop punching! Thanks for your support!
You can watch our first 30-second spot by clicking here:
I just called Zinke’s office and was told by a staffer that if the bill comes back with the public land sale provision he will vote against it again. I asked him why this isn’t on record anywhere, and told me that it is, and referred me to Zinke’s “personal Twitter account.” I’m not on Twitter so asked him to read me the statement, and then I asked him why he’s not made that statement anywhere officially, like his own website, to the press, or in Congress. Of course he couldn’t answer that, so I gently encouraged him to tell Zinke to make a formal public statement so we can all hold him accountable.
We live in the Salmon-Challis National Forest here in ID, and our property is surrounded by green/USFS land, including the Big Creek Hot Springs which some of you in MT maybe have come to enjoy that’s 3 miles up the road from us, it’s an undeveloped hot springs.
This has nothing, not one iota having anything to do with “housing”, it’s a land grab pure and simple for OAG exploration, geothermal exploration (like the Big Creek Hot Springs here we fought years ago that was only “stayed”), mineral(s) exploration, mining and as you say Ryan locking up but to the weathest public land for private hunting and fishing.
This provision in the BigBeautifulB.S. Bill can not pass. Heck, most of what’s in the #BBbsbillPlease can not pass, it will devastate the economy, and permanently our way of life as we’ve known it.
Everyone, please call your local radio station, newspaper, state reps and Congressional reps, write LTEs, let your neighbors know about this 300M acre permanent land grab.
No one is aware that in the 2017 Tax Bill, that it did away with homeowners and businesses from writing off recovery costs from hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, floods, and natural disasters. We lived through the 2022 Moose Fire here in the Salmon-Challis National Forest, and then the 8/5/24 cloud burst that flooded our area of the forest, with mud and rock slides. We were with our pelton-wheel generated power for 9 months and I hauled water from the Hot Springs creek and Panther Creek for 2 mos (while he was fighting wildfires - a retired AK Smokejumper still working seasonally) to flush the toiet and boil to wash dishes. We’ve spent $10K so far to get the Pelton wheel running, and keep it running, not including the cost to run 12-16 hrs a day a whole house generator (recommended for short term emergencies but not long term).
I just called Zinke’s office and was told by a staffer that if the bill comes back with the public land sale provision he will vote against it again. I asked him why this isn’t on record anywhere, and told me that it is, and referred me to Zinke’s “personal Twitter account.” I’m not on Twitter so asked him to read me the statement, and then I asked him why he’s not made that statement anywhere officially, like his own website, to the press, or in Congress. Of course he couldn’t answer that, so I gently encouraged him to tell Zinke to make a formal public statement so we can all hold him accountable.
We live in the Salmon-Challis National Forest here in ID, and our property is surrounded by green/USFS land, including the Big Creek Hot Springs which some of you in MT maybe have come to enjoy that’s 3 miles up the road from us, it’s an undeveloped hot springs.
This has nothing, not one iota having anything to do with “housing”, it’s a land grab pure and simple for OAG exploration, geothermal exploration (like the Big Creek Hot Springs here we fought years ago that was only “stayed”), mineral(s) exploration, mining and as you say Ryan locking up but to the weathest public land for private hunting and fishing.
This provision in the BigBeautifulB.S. Bill can not pass. Heck, most of what’s in the #BBbsbillPlease can not pass, it will devastate the economy, and permanently our way of life as we’ve known it.
Everyone, please call your local radio station, newspaper, state reps and Congressional reps, write LTEs, let your neighbors know about this 300M acre permanent land grab.
No one is aware that in the 2017 Tax Bill, that it did away with homeowners and businesses from writing off recovery costs from hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, floods, and natural disasters. We lived through the 2022 Moose Fire here in the Salmon-Challis National Forest, and then the 8/5/24 cloud burst that flooded our area of the forest, with mud and rock slides. We were with our pelton-wheel generated power for 9 months and I hauled water from the Hot Springs creek and Panther Creek for 2 mos (while he was fighting wildfires - a retired AK Smokejumper still working seasonally) to flush the toiet and boil to wash dishes. We’ve spent $10K so far to get the Pelton wheel running, and keep it running, not including the cost to run 12-16 hrs a day a whole house generator (recommended for short term emergencies but not long term).