WASHINGTON — A proposal to sell off public lands in Utah and Nevada could be revived in the massive tax reconciliation bill making its way through Congress.
When asked if he would push to reinstate language selling roughly 11,000 acres of public lands in southern Utah, Sen. Mike Lee told Politico this week: “Yes.”
Although details are not clear on how Lee would move forward with such a proposal, his office told the Deseret News the Utah senator would advocate for handing control of the land to Utahns.
“Sen. Lee remains committed to advancing Western priorities and ensuring that those who live closest to the land have a voice in how it’s managed,” a spokesperson for Lee told the Deseret News. “As the process moves forward, he’ll continue to advocate for solutions that reflect the needs of Utahns and other Western communities.”
The move comes after the House stripped language to sell more than 211,000 acres across Utah and Nevada amid pushback from some Republicans who threatened to vote against the full reconciliation package if it was included.
The original amendment was led by Utah Rep. Celeste Maloy, R-Utah, who drafted the provision upon request from officials in Washington and Beaver counties, who would have facilitated the sale.
Maloy told the Deseret News she was unaware of any efforts to revive that language as the Senate begins deliberations on the reconciliation package.
About 63% of Utah’s land is owned by the federal government, the most of any state in the country aside from Nevada. The lands that would have been sold make up “only a third of one percent of federal lands in the state,” according to Maloy.
The proposal was met with pushback from some Republicans who have historically opposed public land sales, such as Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., the co-chairman of the newly created Public Lands Caucus.
“There’s a lot of frustration down in the West. I understand that,” Zinke said in response to the amendment last month. “But I prefer the management scheme. And I give an example as a hotel — if you don’t like the management of a hotel, don’t sell the hotel. Change the management. That’s where I sit on that position.”