The Big Ugly Bill's Threats to Public Land
Action 37
Dear Friends,
The Senate vote on the budget bill is coming—and soon. In addition to gutting medicaid, foot stamps, and clean energy, the bill could rob the American people of up to 2.1 million acres of our public land, while leasing off additional acreage for drilling, timber harvesting, and coal mining. The public lands provision sets a dangerous precedent that would allow Congress to sell off public land anytime they need to fund a pet project.
WHAT’S going on and WHY it’s important:
Crafted by Senator Mike Lee, chair of the Senate's Energy and Natural Resources Committee, this portion of the bill would mandate the sale of 0.25-0.5% of BLM land (1.05 - 2.1 million acres). As Outdoor Alliance reports, “The bill focuses on lands within five miles of a ‘population center’… That narrower geographic focus means the pool of eligible land is much smaller—making it more likely that cherished recreation areas near communities will be targeted for sale. According to initial analyses, the land eligible for these sales is somewhere between 600,000 acres and 4.8 million acres, and land sales would be mandatory, meaning that sales of valued outdoor recreation landscapes would be nearly inevitable.” Outdoor Alliance provides maps of some of the eligible acres here (scroll down).
The provision is garnering angry condemnation from elected Democrats and conservation groups. Grist reported last week that “Senator Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington state, called [an earlier version of] the proposal ‘a complete betrayal of future generations.’ Conservation groups have likewise pilloried it as ‘a shameless ploy to sell off pristine public lands for trophy homes and gated communities’ in order to pay for ‘tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy.’”
In response to the Republican claim that the sale will create affordable housing and lower costs for families, Jordan Schreiber, Government Relations Director for the nonprofit The Wilderness Society said “The housing argument is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.” Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, the top Democrat on the Senate's Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said "Republicans can’t fool us: their scheme to sell public lands has nothing to do with affordable housing or lowering costs for families… It’s a direct attack on every New Mexican, whether you have an elk tag, a fishing license, a backpack, a tent, a mountain bike, or a soft spot, special memory, or sacred connection to a particular place important to you, your family, and your ancestors."
The provision is also deeply unpopular amongst voters across the political spectrum. Grist reported that a Colorado College poll found that “only 14 percent of registered voters across eight Western states said they supported selling ‘some limited areas of national public lands to developing housing on natural areas.’ Nearly 90 percent said they visited federally owned lands at least once in the past year.”
WHAT we can do:
Call your senators: Find phone numbers for your senators here. Vermonters: Senator Peter Welch: 802-863-2525; Senator Bernie Sanders: 802-862-0697.
Sample Script:
“I am calling to urge Senator [NAME] to oppose H.R.1. I am very concerned about many portions of the bill including cuts to Medicaid and clean energy, but I’m calling today specifically to voice my outrage over the bill’s mandate to sell 1-2 million acres of public lands, with no significant guardrails in place to prevent valued public lands from being sold for trophy homes, pricey vacation spots, exclusive communities, or other developments that benefit the 1%. This is an egregious betrayal of American people and the lands that have been protected as collective resources for future generations.
Email your senators. Click here, and scroll down for the form; you can personalize your message.
Support the Public Lands in Public Hands Act, a bipartisan effort to “prevent the sale or transfer of most federal public lands and ensure they remain open for all.” Sign here.
Donate: Help protect our most vital lands and waters here.
Photo Credit: Varun Yadav
Final Note:
“This is what we can promise the future: a legacy of care. That we will be good stewards and not take too much or give back too little, that we will recognize wild nature for what it is, in all its magnificent and complex history - an unfathomable wealth that should be consciously saved, not ruthlessly spent.”
~ Terry Tempest Williams, “The Hour of Land”
Braver Together,
Liza and Lorni ♡