Public outcry helped stop a senator’s proposal to sell off public lands.
Lovers of the outdoors across the nation breathed a collective sigh of relief on Saturday night, June 28, 2025, when Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, withdrew his proposal to mandate the sale of up to 1.2 million acres of national public lands across the West in the Senate’s version of the budget reconciliation bill.
The deeply unpopular proposal sparked an outcry from Western communities and Americans across the country, as hunters, wildlife watchers, off-roaders, and hikers alike rose up in a groundswell of fervent opposition.
A sincere thank you to all who called and wrote asking their senators to oppose the sell-off of public lands.
The proposal, also called “a frontal assault on tribal treaty rights,” went through four versions before Sen. Lee finally relented and pulled it from the bill.
Take a look at some of the canyons, mountains, lakes, cultural sites, and scenic views on the Colorado Plateau that would have been eligible for sale under the second version of Sen. Lee’s legislative language.
Mitten Ridge, Sedona, Arizona.
Inner Basin of the San Francisco Peaks, Coconino County, Arizona.
Engineer Mountain, La Plata County, Colorado.
Grizzly Peak and Rolling Mountain, La Plata County, Colorado.
Angel Peak Scenic Area, San Juan County, New Mexico.
Petroglyphs, Emery County, Utah.
Powel Point and the Table Cliff Plateau, Garfield County, Utah.
Beaver Lake and Mt. Peale, San Juan County, Utah.
Pictographs, Emery County, Utah. Photo: Tim Peterson
Blue Flats, Caineville Reef, and the Henry Mountains, Wanye County, Utah.
Bipartisan opposition and public backlash at every step of the way
Budget reconciliation, unlike other Senate bills, requires a simple majority vote instead of the usual 60-vote threshold to break the filibuster, meaning one party makes all the calls and nearly half the country has no voice on setting policy.
But there are limitations on what can and can’t be included in the budget bill. The Senate parliamentarian ruled Sen. Lee’s second version of the bill violated Senate rules for the reconciliation process, necessitating a third draft. And when that third draft failed to quell opposition, Lee produced a fourth version after nightfall on Friday, June 27.
To no avail, Republicans in the Senate and the House vowed they were determined to strike public land sales from the reconciliation bill.
Even Interior Secretary Burgum told reporters that public lands sales in this bill “…wasn’t part of the president’s agenda.”
On Saturday night Sen. Lee announced he was withdrawing his proposal to sell public lands, posting a statement to X (formerly Twitter), hinting that though this chapter is finished, he’s not giving up trying to sell off public lands. “I continue to believe the federal government owns too much land,” he wrote.
Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-NM, the ranking member on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, offered his reply: “And to those already plotting to go after our public lands another way: Don’t. Unless you like losing.”
Keep pressure on your legislators to protect public lands
The potential privatization of public lands underlines why mandating the sale of public lands on a one-party vote, on a rushed timeline, and without public involvement is a non-starter for Americans and Western communities.
Again, thank you for your advocacy and the pressure you brought to bear on this issue. The budget reconciliation bill still contains many terrible things for public lands, but stopping the sale of public lands in the budget bill is a major victory.
