GOP budget proposal could lead to more Utah public land sales

Kyle Dunphey

(Utah News Dispatch) Senate Republicans are eying a provision in Congress’ budget bill that would allow the federal government to sell off parcels of public land, and over the weekend made tweaks to the proposal that drastically increased the amount of land available for sale in Utah.

Previously, the proposal — spearheaded by Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee — would have allowed for about 1.9 million acres of land in the Beehive State to be sold. Now, an amended version of the bill would allow for nearly 18.7 million acres in Utah to be eligible for sale, according to an analysis from The Wilderness Society.

A spokesperson for the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources confirmed the amendments.

The bill still has a cap on how much can ultimately be sold. The U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management would each be required to select between 0.5% to 0.75% of the land they manage in 11 Western states — that totals out to roughly 2.2 million to 3.3 million acres.

The bill states that the land would be used for housing, directing the secretaries to prioritize nominating parcels that have access to existing infrastructure, are next to developed areas, or are “suitable for residential housing.”

The initial version of the bill identified land that was off-limits, which included anything with a federal designation like national parks, national monuments, wilderness areas or national recreation areas. It also exempted land with a “valid existing right,” defined in the bill as a mining claim, oil and gas lease, or a grazing permit.

But a grazing permit is not considered a “valid existing right,” experts say — so over the weekend, the definition was stripped from the bill, which opens up land used for grazing for potential sale.

“It effectively doubled the acreage that could be on the table for sale. That has serious ramifications in Utah,” said Michael Carroll, who directs the Bureau of Land Management program for The Wilderness Society. “Ranchers and recreation communities are really going to be the big losers of this legislation.”

According to an analysis from The Wilderness Society, about 120 million acres in 11 states were eligible for disposal in the initial version — now, more than 258 million acres are eligible.

Consider this Utah-specific breakdown:

• In the original bill, about 873,600 acres of U.S. Forest Service land and more than 1 million acres of Bureau of Land Management land was eligible. That’s roughly 1.9 million acres total.
• Now, about 6 million acres of U.S. Forest Service land and 12.6 million acres of Bureau of Land Management land are eligible. That’s about 18.7 million acres total.

Among the land in Utah that meets the definition in the bill are Forest Service parcels along the Wasatch Front in Big Cottonwood, Little Cottonwood, Millcreek, Parleys, American Fork, Emigration, City Creek and Provo canyons; swaths of land in the Uinta, Wasatch, Bear River, La Sal, Tushar and Henry mountains; large stretches of Bureau of Land Management land along the Colorado and Green rivers; a huge chunk of Dixie National Forest and the San Rafael Swell; and Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service land that borders all five of Utah’s national parks.

Plus, if the Trump administration or Congress moves to rescind Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, that could make millions more acres eligible.

Lee’s proposal is part of the 10 Senate bills that will make up Republicans’ reconciliation package nicknamed the “big, beautiful bill.” The senior Utah senator has long advocated for using federal land as a possible solution to the housing crisis. Nearly 63% of the state is owned and managed by the federal government and in a video address last week, Lee said his proposal would let communities surrounded by federal land manage growth.

“We’re opening underused federal land to expand housing, support local development and get Washington, D.C. out of the way for communities that are just trying to grow,” Lee said in a video address. “We’re talking about isolated parcels that are difficult to manage, that are better suited for housing and infrastructure. To our hunters, anglers and sportsmen, you will not lose access to the lands you love. Washington has proven time and again it can’t manage this land. This bill puts it in better hands.”

Environmental advocates don’t buy that explanation. Laura Peterson, a staff attorney for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, said that while the bill’s intention is housing, there’s really no mandate.

“That’s only what’s given priority consideration. That’s not a requirement for lands to be sold,” she said on Tuesday. “They’re talking about infrastructure to support local housing, but that’s undefined. One could interpret that to mean pretty much anything. Is that a shopping mall? Maybe. Why not?”

Here’s a breakdown of what else is proposed in the bill, and some of the changes made over the weekend:

• Eleven states — Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming — are eligible. Montana is exempt.
• Before disposing of land, the secretary of either the U.S. Department of Interior, or Agriculture, should consult with state and local governments, and tribes.
• Each nomination would require a description of how the land will address housing needs or “infrastructure to support local housing needs.”
• Land that’s nominated by a local government, is next to existing developments, has access to infrastructure and is suitable for residential housing would be prioritized. The bill previously prioritized land that would reduce checkerboard land patterns or isolated tracts that are difficult to manage, but that was cut.
• The bill previously stated that the land would be sold for fair market value, but that was also axed over the weekend.
• The federal government’s right to enforce how the land is used was cut from the bill.