Montanans react to Senate proposal to sell federal land
Laura Lundquist
(Missoula Current) Some Montanans are reacting with anger over a U.S. Senate proposal to sell off federal lands even though land in Montana isn’t part of the proposal.
Late Wednesday, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee released the text of a provision that, among other things, would allow up to 3.2 million acres of U.S. Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service land in 11 western states to be sold.
Bozeman hunter Randy Newberg posted a video on Wednesday evening saying he’d been told about the land sales included in the proposal but didn’t have all the details yet.
“If a deal’s been cut where it has the votes to get out of the committee and the Senate and attached to the budget, this is going to be really, really bad,” Newberg said in the video. “If this is true, which I have every reason to believe it is, it’s going to require a lot of pressure from a lot of people applied on everybody. What a joke.”
If it passes the Senate, the provision, which the committee chair, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, released Wednesday evening, will be attached to the budget reconciliation bill, which President Donald Trump has dubbed “the big beautiful bill.”
Lee said selling isolated federal parcels was a solution to the housing shortage and “does not touch national parks, national monuments or wilderness.” A bill summary said the land would also be used for “housing, increased timber sales, geothermal leasing, and compensation of states and localities for the cost of wind and solar projects on federal land.” The provision also allocates $5 million for the Interior and Agriculture departments to conduct land sales.
“This is President Trump’s agenda: cut the Green New Scam, reduce the deficit, and unleash American energy,” Lee said in a statement. “We’re cutting billions in unused Biden-era climate slush funds, opening up energy and resource development, turning federal liabilities into taxpayer value, while making housing more affordable for hardworking American families. This is how we make government smaller, freer, and work for Americans.”
Committee ranking member Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., and other committee Democrats didn’t agree.
“Senate Republicans have finally said the quiet part out loud: They want to put millions of acres of our public lands up in a fire sale, destroy the investments that have created thousands of manufacturing and clean energy jobs – including in their home states - and obliterate programs that lower energy costs for everyday Americans. If Senate Republicans succeed, we all lose,” Heinrich said in a statement. “In the days ahead, you’ll hear a lot of excuses from Republicans trying to cover for what they’re doing. Do not believe it. This isn’t about building more housing or energy dominance. It’s about giving their billionaire buddies YOUR land and YOUR money.”
Montana was conspicuously missing from the list of western states, even though it has about 17 million acres of Forest Service land and 8 million acres of BLM land. Lands in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington state and Wyoming would be eligible.
Sen. Steve Daines sits on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee but has made no official comments on the proposal. On Wednesday, one of Daines’ staffers told Outdoor Life, “Senator Daines is against the sale of public lands and is making his strong concerns clear to his colleagues.” Daines has stated only he supports Trump’s reconciliation bill. On Wednesday, he told Fox News it is “an amazing bill” because it would “stop the largest tax increase in American history.”
News of the proposal flew across the internet prompting strong reactions from nonprofit groups and politicians.
Land Tawney, former Backcountry Hunters and Anglers CEO who leads the new start-up American Hunters and Anglers, was enjoying fishing on Wednesday but then his phone started blowing up with calls about the provision. The fact that Montana wasn’t included did little to dampen the impact for Tawney.
“Senator Daines made some deal with Senator Mike Lee that he talked about last week. Daines doesn’t realize that these public lands belong to all of us, so it doesn’t matter if he carved out stuff here in Montana for his constituents,” Tawney said in a video. “These lands belong to all of us. Once you sell public lands in any other state, that opens up the door to sell them right here in Montana as well.”
Renee Kelley, Montana Conservation Voters Education Fund interim executive director, echoed Tawney, saying the proposal wasn’t acceptable just because Montana was left off the list of targets.
“Senator Daines is either naive or deliberately misleading if he believes a one-state exemption offers any real protection from the growing attacks on public lands across the West,” Kelley said in a release. “Every acre deserves lasting protection, not piecemeal political carve-outs that leave the rest of the West on the chopping block.”
Backcountry Hunters and Anglers’ new CEO Patrick Berry condemned the selling of public land, saying they’re not “disposable assets.” If federal land is to be sold, agencies are required to follow the Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act, a law designed to ensure that proceeds from public land sales are reinvested in conservation and public access. But Lee’s proposal bypasses that. Frank Szollosi, Montana Wildlife Federation executive director called it “a backroom deal that cuts the American public out of the process.”
Land sales affect not only public land but also public waters, fish and wildlife. It reduces stream access, which could eliminate fishing opportunities for nearby families. Chris Wood, Trout Unlimited president, said the “misguided and dark-of-night inclusion of public land sales in the Senate bill is an affront to common sense and a direct threat to America’s land legacy.
“Public lands are the backyard of the little guy and the Senate bill will put them on the chopping block for the rich to erect fences and no trespassing signs,” Wood said.
Missoula City Council member Eric Melson said Missoula had turned itself from a logging town into an outdoor recreation destination, but its continuing economic growth could be slowed if public lands are sold off.
“Senate Republicans’ proposal to sell off those lands to pay for tax cuts for the rich puts all of that in danger. Protecting these assets isn’t just an environmental obligation—it’s an investment in our resident's future, and I urge Senators Daines and Sheehy to stand up and ensure public lands remain well-funded, well-managed, and open to all,” Melson said.
The committee has yet to vote on the proposal, but the vote will obviously be watched closely. The committee has 11 Republican and nine Democratic members so the proposal would pass on a party-line vote if all Republicans voted in favor. But if Daines votes no and all the Democrats vote no, that would create a tie of 10 votes to 10, and the proposal would die. So Daines will be under the microscope.
Many groups are appealing to Daines to vote no.
“Senator Daines says he opposes public land sales, but also says this bill ‘must pass.’ Senator Sheehy says public lands belong in public hands, but allowing this provision to advance tells Montanans the opposite,” said John Todd, Wild Montana executive director. “Montanans have made it clear that selling public lands is a line in the dirt that cannot be crossed. We need a clear, public commitment that this stops here.”
Daines is up for election in 2026, as are Montana’s two representatives.
Contact reporter Laura Lundquist at lundquist@missoulacurrent.com.