WASHINGTON — After receiving criticism from seemingly all sides of the political and environmental spectrum, Utah Sen. Mike Lee has offered revisions to a controversial proposal to sell millions of acres of public lands.
However, any change could prove to be moot as parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough determined the proposal itself violates Senate rules.
In a social media post Monday evening, Lee said he would propose removing all U.S. Forest Service land from the budget reconciliation bill that had previously been submitted by the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee, which Lee chairs.
"We are NOT selling off our forests," Lee wrote.
The revisions would also severely cut the amount of Bureau of Land Management acreage sold to land solely within 5 miles of "population centers."
Lee proposes legislation that puts millions of acres of Utah public land up for sale:
The original legislation would have required 3 million acres of public land, owned by the Forest Service and BLM, to be sold — chosen from a pool of 258 million acres across 11 Western states, including Utah — over the next five years.
Lee championed the sale as a way to increase public housing opportunities.
However, almost immediately after the legislation was unveiled, it received major backlash from the general public and even political allies angered over a perceived attempt to sell off land that was home to trails, grazing areas and some of Utah's popular backcountry ski areas.
In his Monday post, Lee claimed he would "PROTECT our farmers, ranchers, and recreational users. They come first."
Whether Lee's proposal revisions actually are included in President Trump's so-called Big, Beautiful Bill is also up for debate after Politico reported that moments after the senator's social media post, MacDonough ruled the land sale would not be included in the massive legislation.
