Oppose the Sale of Public Lands in the Budget Reconciliation Bill

Republicans are advancing their partisan budget reconciliation bill to cut over $4 trillion dollars in federal spending to fund tax cuts for the wealthy and mass deportations. On May 6th, the House Natural Resources committee amended and passed their portion of the reconciliation bill, which must now be approved by both chambers of Congress. In a late night vote, committee Republicans added a bill amendment to authorize the sale of roughly 11,000 acres of public lands in Nevada and Utah. It is unclear what these lands would be sold for, but other parts of the bill would reverse environmental laws to allow more timber production and new oil and gas leases.

This move comes on the heels of current Interior Secretary Doug Burgum ceding control of national parks and public lands to an oil executive. The proposal sets another dangerous precedent for the wholesale transfer of public land to the fossil fuel industry and other private enterprises. Even Ryan Zinke, former Interior Secretary during Trump’s first term and current House member (R-MT), has opposed using budget reconciliation to sell public lands.

Republicans and the Trump administration see our public lands as meaningless property they can greedily sell off for profit. Demand your members of Congress oppose this reconciliation bill and block the sale of public lands to drillers, miners, and loggers. Public lands are for the American people, not billionaires and corporations.