Keep Public Lands in Public Hands: Say No to Hidden Land Sales in the Budget Bill

Resource Renewal Institute joined Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, Center for Biological Diversity, The Wilderness Society, and the American Hiking Society alongside 109 other conservation organizations in urging Senate leadership to prevent the sell-off of federal public lands in the budget reconciliation bill. The unprecedented coalition represents millions of Americans united in defending over 500,000 acres of irreplaceable public lands in Nevada and Utah from privatization schemes designed to fund tax cuts for billionaires.

House Natural Resources Committee members attempted to push through legislation that would have sold over 500,000 acres of federal public lands in Nevada and Utah—tried at the last minute, under cover of darkness, without opportunity for congressional review or public input. The amendment included no requirements for public use and no limitations on future development, meaning these irreplaceable landscapes could be transformed into golf courses, luxury resorts, or strip malls. Several parcels targeted for sale included acreage in designated Wilderness Areas and National Conservation Areas—the highest levels of federal protection—with some sitting adjacent to Zion National Park. In southern Utah, certain parcels appeared included solely to enable the controversial Lake Powell pipeline, which would exacerbate the ongoing water crisis on the Colorado River.

"This sell-off amendment represents the worst kind of conservation policy—liquidating irreplaceable public landscapes to fund tax breaks for the wealthy while cutting communities off from the lands that define the American West. Public lands belong to all of us, not to the highest bidder."

— Chance Cutrano, Director of Programs, Resource Renewal Institute

The amendment represented the cynical use of America's natural heritage as a piggy bank for tax cuts benefiting the wealthy. Polling consistently shows that Americans—especially westerners who live closest to these lands—strongly support keeping public lands in public hands and overwhelmingly reject efforts to sell these shared landscapes. The proposed sales would have devastated pristine desert habitat critical for endangered species like desert bighorn sheep and greater sage-grouse, while fragmenting migration corridors essential for wildlife survival.

The Senate must heed the bipartisan opposition that defeated this amendment in the House and ensure no similar provisions enter the reconciliation bill. Our public lands provide clean water, wildlife habitat, recreation opportunities, and climate stability that benefit every American—services that cannot be replaced once lost to private development. Congress must choose conservation legacy over corporate profit and reject any attempt to resurrect these land sales.