House GOP strips sell-off provisions but public lands remain at risk

By Abby Urbanek
Reader Contributor

After weeks of public outrage and mounting bipartisan backlash, U.S. House Republicans quietly removed a provision that would have mandated the sale of hundreds of thousands of acres of public lands in Nevada and Utah. While the immediate threat of sell-off may be gone, advocates across the country say the damage remains.

The budget bill — deemed by many as the most dangerous environmental legislation in modern U.S. history — still includes sweeping measures that gut environmental safeguards, fast-track development and strip the public of any voice in how their lands are managed.

The provision to sell off land was originally slipped into the bill by Reps. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., and Celeste Maloy, R-Utah, just before midnight on May 6 during a Natural Resources Committee hearing. Members had fewer than 30 minutes to review it. The amendment passed 23-18, along party lines, with Rep. Russ Fulcher, R-Idaho, supporting the amendment to sell off these lands. 

Citizens across the country called the removal a “temporary concession” that does not change the bill’s core threat to public lands, wildlife and climate action. The bill is now set for a vote by the full House. 

“Public lands are a core part of our identity and belong to all Americans,” said John Robison, public lands and wildlife director with the Idaho Conservation League. “While we are deeply concerned with other provisions in this astonishingly bad bill, these fast-tracked public lands sales would have set a terrible precedent and done permanent damage to the fabric of communities throughout the West. The people prevailed.”

As the budget bill moves over to the Senate, ICL encourages Idaho Republican Sens. Jim Risch and Mike Crapo to follow through and make sure that public lands sales are not included in the Senate version. 

Both Risch and Crapo have a background of supporting public lands through their respective leadership with the 2008 Idaho Roadless Rule and the Owyhee Initiative, and their joint support for community-based groups that collaborate on forest and rangeland management.

Abby Urbanek is communications and marketing manager for the Idaho Conservation League.