Following widespread public opposition, a new spending bill saw proposals to sell of 500,000 acres of public land removed from the legislation. This opposition included some lawmakers and the Outdoor Alliance, which sent more than 100,000 letters in response.
The House Natural Resources committee passed the amendmant – as part of its ongoing budget reconciliation. This “sprawling” bill, Outdoor Industry Association noted, represented a number of threats to conservation and public process.
The amendment – which was introduced by Mark Amodei (R-NV) and Celeste Maloy (R-UT), were reportedly “introduced at midnight during a markup, without notice, review or debate” – authorizes land sales managed by the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management.
Little explanation was given as to of why these particular parcels were chosen or how the sales would benefit the public. Outdoor Alliance’s GIS Lab has a preliminary analysis of the lands, noting they are far more than the originally reported 11,000 acres. The maps include mountain biking and OHV trails in the Hurricane Cliffs, climbing in Coral Canyon Ridge, the Green Valley race course, the Plateau Passage bikepacking route and the Virgin River, which is used for camping, paddling and whitewater.
The bill also includes language that would allow extractive industries to bypass NEPA and judicial review, mandate offshore oil and gas drilling, give timber companies greater control over public lands, cut funding and staff at the Park Service and open up the headwaters of the Boundary Waters for mining.
The remainder of the bill now moves to the Senate.
“This bill is very bad for public lands and waters,” said Louis Geltman, VP of policy and government relations with the Outdoor Alliance. “But at the same time, it’s really encouraging that a growing group of lawmakers are standing up for public lands, and that doesn’t happen without our community showing up. We can continue to make a difference as this conversation shifts to the Senate.”
