WASHINGTON — Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, hinted at possible changes to his proposal selling off millions of acres of public land amid growing opposition to the provision among conservative circles.
“Hunter Nation: You spoke, and I’m listening,” Lee wrote in a post on X over the weekend. “I’ll be making changes in the coming days.”
The potential edits come as Lee faces pushback on his proposal to sell between 2.2 million and 3.3 million acres of federally owned land across 11 states. The proposal is tucked into a larger bill of energy-related provisions meant to offset trillions of dollars in proposed tax cuts in President Donald Trump’s reconciliation package.
The bill would require those states to sell anywhere between 0.5% and 0.75% of all Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service lands in the next five years, which could total up to a maximum of 1.5% in some cases. The legislation specifically applies to Utah as well as Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming.
However, the proposal has received pushback from some of Lee’s Republican colleagues, particularly those who have long opposed selling public lands for commercial use.
Idaho Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch came out against the potential sales over the weekend, telling the Deseret News separately they have reviewed the text and disagree with the provision.
Both Republican Sens. Steve Daines and Tim Sheehy of Montana similarly told the Deseret News they oppose the sale of public lands. However, they both noted they were pleased to see Montana exempted from Lee’s proposal, which the Utah senator did after consulting with the pair.
However, Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., has gone even further to say he would outright oppose any reconciliation package that includes the sale of public lands, possibly putting the bill at risk.
Lee’s proposal has also ignited an online social media campaign against any potential sales, putting the Utah senator on the defensive to salvage the proposal.
“Some opponents of my lands bill are taking an absolutist approach, insisting that the total acreage of federal land must *never* diminish—even by a fraction of one percent & even if the land in question is connected to established, residential neighborhoods,” Lee said in a post on X. “Is that reasonable?”
“How much money do you think has been spent on this campaign against my lands bill?” he said in another post.
Lee’s bill would require the land be used only for “the development of housing or to address associated community needs,” although it does leave that interpretation up to the secretaries of Interior and Agriculture.
Lee has said there will be updates to the legislation that would further restrict what lands can be sold, mandating that those being sold by the U.S. Forest Service are within 2 miles of a population center and those being sold by the Bureau of Land Management are within 5 miles.
The Utah senator notes land with existing permits for grazing, mining, mineral leases, or more would also be exempt.