Conservationists renew their efforts to ensure public land sales remain excluded from the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’
The sale of up to 3 million acres of public lands in the Senate’s proposed budget reconciliation bill has led to an outpouring of dissent from interest groups across sectors. Known as the “Big Beautiful Bill,” the reconciliation bill is a 1,100+ page bill that spans taxes, spending, defense, immigration, energy, healthcare and social welfare. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) recently released draft reconciliation bill text that significantly increased the scope of potential land sales seen in the House’s version of the bill in late May. That bill narrowly passed the House with a vote of 215 to 214, following the removal of an amendment authorizing the sale of between 450,000-500,000 acres. Representatives Zinke (R-MT) and Vasquez (D-NM), who launched the bipartisan Public Lands Caucus earlier this year, led the effort to remove this amendment. TWS joined the American Fisheries Society to thank both representatives for their dedication to the stewardship of America’s public lands.
The Senate has not yet voted on the bill, meaning there is still a window for outreach to Senate offices. Earlier this week, the Senate Parliamentarian ruled that Lee’s proposed land sales could not be included in the reconciliation bill. The Senator has since said he would remove U.S. Forest Service lands from his proposal and reduce the acreage of BLM lands that would be available for sale.
TWS recently joined over 40 other organizations to oppose federal public land sales in the budget reconciliation bill. TWS members are encouraged to engage through the Conservation Affairs Network. Interested in writing to your Senators about this issue? Template letters to Senate offices are available in the TWS Policy Toolkit.
