WASHINGTON — Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, submitted a new version with updated restrictions of his public lands proposal.
Lee is set to present to the Senate parliamentarian on Wednesday after she ruled earlier this week that the Utah senator’s proposal to sell between 2.2 million and 3.3 million acres of federally owned land would be stripped from President Donald Trump’s massive tax package because it does not comply with the strict rules laid out in the reconciliation process.
Draft text of the provision was available before Lee’s team went to the parliamentarian on Wednesday, and it included several changes previously reported by the Deseret News.
The biggest change was the removal of U.S. Forest Service lands from being eligible for sale, significantly reducing how much land could be sold under his proposal.
The original proposal would have required 11 Western 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. The updated language would now only apply that requirement to lands operated by the BLM.
The legislation specifically applies to Utah as well as Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming.
Lee began adjusting his proposal over the weekend based on feedback from the public, his office told the Deseret News, and was nearly finalized before the parliamentarian issued the ruling. A final decision on the latest proposal is expected sometime this week.
The latest proposal would also reduce how much BLM land can be sold, requiring any sales to be within 5 miles of a population center. Lee noted he would also include language to protect lands utilized by farmers, ranchers and recreational users, although details on how he would do that are not yet clear.
Lee will also establish what he is calling “Freedom Zones” that would ensure any lands sold are used for housing projects rather than going toward massive investment groups or corporations. That was a major concern among constituents, prompting an online social media campaign against the proposal.
However, the proposal also 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 disagree with the original provision. It’s not clear if the updates will sway their opinion.
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 in the House.