By Aidan Mortensen | KOAL News
A controversial provision in the federal reconciliation bill has reappeared in the Senate. The provision – which was reintroduced by Utah Sen. Mike Lee – would put approximately 250 million acres of federally managed public lands up for sale.
Lee’s expansion of the provision comes after Utah Republican Rep. Celeste Maloy tried to include a proposed 11,500-acre sale of Bureau of Land Management land in southern Utah inside President Donald Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill.’ This would have also included the sale of nearly 500,000 acres inside of Nevada. Texas Republican Rep. Jodey Arrington struck the item from the legislation.
The section “Mandatory Disposal of Bureau of Land Management and National Forest System Land for Housing” requires the bodies to ”select for disposal no less than 0.50 percent and not more than 0.75 percent” of eligible land to sell.
According to The Wilderness Society, this Bill would mark one of the most significant sales of public lands in modern history. It would also allow the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture broad discretionary powers in what lands would be sold.
Within Utah, this would impact 18,746,709 acres of land comprising local recreation areas, wilderness study areas, inventoried roadless areas, critical wildlife habitat and big game migration corridors.
This acreage consists of 12,650,349 acres of Bureau of Land Management and 6,096,360 acres of U.S. Forest Service-managed land.
The impact in the Castle Country would be major, with mass swathes of land inside the San Rafael Swell, Nine-mile Canyon and the Manti-La Sal national forests eligible to be sold to private landowners over the next five years.
“Sen. Lee’s never-ending attacks on public lands continue. His hostility stands in stark contrast with Americans’ deep and abiding love of public lands. Sen. Lee’s plan puts Utah’s redrock country in the crosshairs of unchecked development,” said Travis Hammill, D.C. Director for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. “In Utah and the West, public lands are the envy of the country – but Sen. Lee is willing to sacrifice the places where people recreate, where they hunt and fish, and where they make a living – to pay for tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy. The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, our members, and our partners will work to defeat this Bill.”
Sen. Lee shared in a post on X defending the Bill,” The legislation specifically exempts National Parks, National Monuments, Wilderness Areas, National Recreation Areas, and eleven other categories of federally protected land from sales to build much-needed housing for American families.”
None of the places depicted would be eligible for sale under our bill.
The legislation specifically exempts National Parks, National Monuments, Wilderness Areas, National Recreation Areas, and eleven other categories of federally protected land from sales to build much-needed… https://t.co/OkkBHGXnHJ
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) June 16, 2025
Once purchased, the land is to be used for housing. However, after 10 years, it may be sold again for nonhousing purposes.
If passed, the Bill would go into effect” not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act and every 60 days thereafter.”
A full view of eligible lands for sale can be seen here.