June 24, 2025 - SANTA FE, N.M.— On Monday, more than 100 nonprofit organizations sent a letter to the Western Governors’ Association today urging the 19 state leaders to oppose Utah Sen. Mike Lee’s proposal to sell off roughly 3 million acres of public lands as part of the Senate Republican budget bill.
The letter will be delivered to the governors as hundreds of people rally in support of public lands outside the association’s annual meeting in Santa Fe, N.M., where Interior Secretary Doug Burgum is scheduled to give the keynote address.
“Our cherished public lands are the backbone of the West and the core of our identity as Americans. It’s disgusting that anyone would back this plan to permanently privatize and bulldoze these beautiful places,” said Laiken Jordahl, Southwest conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Every Western governor should publicly oppose this reckless proposal and pledge that their states won’t participate in dismantling our public lands if this monstrosity becomes law.”
Today’s letter warns that the legislation would allow an unprecedented disposal of public lands, “with no environmental review, meaningful Tribal consultation, or public input.”
“It will take effect with lightning speed, forcing the immediate nomination of lands put up for auction within 30 days, all with no public process,” the letter says. “There are no requirements or safeguards that sold land be used for affordable housing. It’s an attack on the very values Westerners hold dear.”
The Senate’s draft budget reconciliation bill would require public lands sales from more than 250 million acres in 11 Western states, exempting only Montana. It allows governors, without public input, to nominate which lands they want the Secretary of the Interior and Secretary of Agriculture to privatize for development.
Lands at risk include popular recreation areas, hunting and fishing spots, culturally sensitive areas, wildlife and endangered species habitats, public water sources, and nearly 100,000 miles of trails. The Interior and Agriculture secretaries would be given unprecedented authority to decide which lands to privatize, possibly including rushed sales of lands within national monuments if the president unlawfully attempts to remove protections for those monuments.
The legislation has no requirement that liquidated public lands would be used for housing of any kind, including affordable housing. The sell-off provisions will lead to rampant land speculation, profiteering and permanent loss of public access.
Selling public lands is very unpopular. A 2025 survey found that 82% of Western voters oppose selling public lands to address housing challenges in their state, while 83% of voters say the loss of natural areas is a serious problem.
Merced River Recreation Management Area
Photo by David Greenwood, BLM
The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.8 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.
Source: Center for Biological Diversity
