public lands

Utah Sen. Mike Lee said changes are coming to his proposed public land sale, which is currently facing a roadblock after the Senate Parliamentarian rejected it Monday evening.

A Republican proposal in the U.S. Senate that could have put millions of acres of public land in Washington up for sale has hit a roadblock, but the lead lawmaker behind the idea is planning to press ahead with a scaled-back version.

U.S. Sen. Mike Lee says he will revamp his controversial proposal to require the sales of vast acres of federal lands in the West so it can be included in Senate Republicans’ sweeping tax and spending cut package.

With a vote to dispose a broad swath of public lands possibly days away, the Missoula City Council on Monday joined the growing chorus of those supporting the nation's public lands and their continued federal management and stewardship.

A massive sell-off of millions of acres of public lands is part of the federal “Big Beautiful Bill Act,” with at least one member of Montana’s federal delegation squarely in the thick of the discussion.

Eric Melson writes, "Our public lands aren’t financial chips to be traded when budgets get tight. They’re part of who we are—and once sold, they’re gone forever."

In Utah, millions of acres of land along the Wasatch Front, adjacent to national parks, in popular mountain ranges and beyond meet the bill’s definition to be eligible for sale.

Corey Ellis writes, "Our delegation can claim they defended Montana public lands while selling millions of acres elsewhere."

Democratic members of the Colorado congressional delegation criticized a recent proposal by U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, to allow the federal government to sell off more than 2 million acres of public land.

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.