URGENT: Congress (GOP) is quietly trying to sell off our public lands

[flamingdem]

This is happening now as part of the Big Ugly Bill.

Outdoor Alliance website

Has a legislator contact form and other groups probably have contact forms as well.

https://www.outdooralliance.org/

Republicans in Congress are again pushing to sell off millions of acres of public land as part of the GOP’s tax cut and spending bill.

A draft budget from the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, led by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), calls for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service to sell between two and three million acres over the next five years. Land in every western state except Montana would be eligible for sale under the proposal.

“We’re opening underused federal land to expand housing, support local development and get Washington, D.C. out of the way of communities that are just trying to grow,” Lee said in a video announcement.




Congress is attempting to quietly pass a bill that would open up millions of acres of our public lands for sale to private interests — all under the misleading pretense of “increasing housing affordability.”

But here’s the truth:
There are zero affordability requirements in this bill. These lands won’t be used for affordable housing — they’ll be snapped up by the ultra-wealthy for gated communities, trophy homes, and exclusive development.

If you haven’t seen the interactive map showing which National Forest and BLM lands could be sold off, take a look:

https://www.arcgis.com/apps/instant/basic/index.html?appid=821970f0212d46d7aa854718aac42310

This is not just a bad bill — it’s an ecological disaster, a devastating blow to outdoor recreation, and an irreversible handover of land that belongs to all of us.

Once they’re gone, they’re gone for good.
So is the wildlife.
So is the clean water.
So is the freedom to roam wild places with our children, to camp under stars, to find peace in forests and deserts and along untouched coastlines.

[flamingdem]

1. The Senate's Budget Bill: A Massive Giveaway of Alaska's Wildest Places

https://alaskawild.org/blog/the-senates-budget-bill-a-massive-giveaway-of-alaskas-wildest-places/

What’s Actually in the Bill?

A massive public land sell-off.
The bill requires the federal government to sell off between 2.1 and 3.3 million acres of public lands across 11 states — including Alaska — by 2030. While it claims to sell this land for housing, there are no affordability requirements or long term restrictions for land use. No conservation protections. No limits on what gets built. Just a land rush to privatize our shared places where people hunt, fish, hike, and find peace.

Forced oil and gas leasing on a mind-boggling scale.

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: The bill mandates four lease sales over the next decade, locking in Trump’s weak 2020 leasing plan and gutting protections for wildlife, the Coastal Plain, and subsistence resources.

Western Arctic: Five lease sales required over 10 years, with the first within 12 months. It would also wipe out Biden’s 2024 Special Area protections — protections that thousands of Alaskans and Americans are still fighting for right now.

Cook Inlet Offshore: Six oil and gas lease sales, each offering at least 1 million acres, relying on outdated plans that shortchange environmental review.

A rubber stamp for destructive mining.
The bill mandates approval of the Ambler Road — a 211-mile industrial corridor slicing through critical wildlife habitat near the Brooks Range. The Biden administration rejected the project for good reason: it threatens caribou, salmon, and the health of local communities. This bill would force it through in 90 days, with no meaningful review and no real chance for the public to weigh in.
What This Means for Alaska — And All of Us

Let’s not sugarcoat it. If this passes, it’s a major setback for huge swaths of Alaska’s wild lands.

Public lands lost — forever. Once these places are sold off, they’re gone. No second chances. No undo button.

Wildlife habitat destroyed. Caribou calving grounds. Migratory bird sanctuaries. Salmon streams. All put at risk to appease industry and shareholder profits.

Climate disaster accelerated. The Arctic is warming four times faster than the rest of the planet. Mandating new oil and gas drilling here? It’s like tossing gasoline on a fire and pretending it’s responsible governance.

A distraction from the real agenda. The forced land sales, the lease mandates, the mining greenlights — they’re not about energy security or housing. They’re about creating political cover for giant tax breaks for billionaires. Congress is trying to trade away our future to pay for giveaways to the ultra-wealthy.
This Is a Generational Decision

We have a choice: Fight for our shared public lands, for climate action, and for future generations. Or let them be sold off for the short-term profits of a few.

In the coming weeks, this bill may go to a Senate vote before going back to the House for one last vote. And all bets are off if it lands on Trump’s desk.

Take action now and tell your lawmakers: Public lands are not for sale. Not now. Not ever.

The Arctic isn’t for sale. The Western Arctic isn’t for sale. Cook Inlet isn’t for sale. And our public lands sure as hell aren’t for sale to fund billionaire tax breaks.

[gab13by13]

2. Ah, and the cherry on top,

the sale of this property is allowed by law to go into Krasnov's Sovereign Wealth Fund and not the treasury.

[jeffreyi]

3. Outdoor Alliance website

Has a legislator contact form, and other groups probably have contact forms as well.
https://www.outdooralliance.org/

[flamingdem]

4. Thank you!

They're trying to sneak this one by. Elon wants buy land for one of his colonies. Etc.

[flamingdem]

5. I put your contact form in the original post

Thanks

[vapor2]

6. Post this on bluesky or fb or twitter

So people know

[2naSalit]

7. Also, see these...

Inside Utah’s PR Campaign to Seize Public Lands

Utah used actors, AI, stagecraft and NDAs as it sought to sway public opinion and take control of 18.5 million acres of federal public land

https://www.thewildlifenews.com/2025/06/17/inside-utahs-pr-campaign-to-seize-public-lands/



While It Has Never Been Worse . . .

Top Line: The public lands (and the entire conservation) community is fundamentally mis-organized to address today’s torrent of existential threats to the nation’s public lands.

https://www.thewildlifenews.com/2025/06/17/while-it-has-never-been-worse/

[UTUSN]

8. K&R