SALT LAKE CITY — The Montana-based Backcountry Hunters & Anglers is urging its members to "flood the lines" in Washington, D.C., to express opposition to Sen. Mike Lee's proposal to sell some federally-controlled public lands across the West.
"There’s a lot of land that is valuable to the hunting and fishing community that could be lost, could be sold, and once it's sold, it's gone forever," said Devin O'Dea, the group's Western policy and conservation manager.
Alliance for a Better Utah, a progressive policy group based in Salt Lake City, is hosting a postcard writing party on Wednesday night at Publik Coffee to urge people to send letters to Sen. Lee and Sen. John Curtis opposing the land sale. Conserve Utah Valley, a conservation group based in Provo, is hosting a town hall at Quail Orchard Park on Thursday night, offering to help people reach out to their congressional representatives to oppose the sale.
"The public lands issue and the 'Big, Beautiful Bill' has done a lot for our community in bringing us together, united against one cause which is to get Mike Lee out of office or get him to pay attention to prioritize Utah values over partisan," Alliance for a Better Utah Executive Director Taylor Knuth told FOX 13 News in an interview Wednesday.
Groups from across the political spectrum have raised alarm about Sen. Lee's original proposal to sell millions of acres of public lands across the West. It was included as part of the "Big, Beautiful Bill" until it was stripped out on Tuesday by the Senate Parliamentarian as improper under Senate rules.
In a brief interview with Scripps News' congressional correspondent Nathaniel Reed on Wednesday, Sen. Lee said he was talking to the parliamentarian, who acts as a key policy referee, about reviving it. (FOX 13 News is owned by Scripps News and Reed is a part of its Washington, D.C. bureau.)
"It's being argued with the parliamentarian, I think, even as we speak, or it was argued earlier today, and we're expecting a decision as soon as tonight," Sen. Lee said.
“What did you change in your proposal to try and make it possible?” Reed asked.
"A whole bunch of things," Sen. Lee replied.
WATCH: Reporter asks Lee about public lands amendment
In a post on X declaring "I'm still listening," Sen. Lee insisted the land would go to "American families" as part of his push for affordable housing. A version of the proposal removes U.S. Forest Service land and focuses on Bureau of Land Management land.
Sen. Lee suggested that his new idea would be smaller parcels of land closer to urban areas (dubbed "freedom zones") for housing development, roughly 1.2 million acres. It's similar to an earlier proposal by Utah's Second Congressional District Rep. Celeste Maloy, which was stripped out of the House version of the "Big, Beautiful Bill."
Sen. Lee has appeared to acknowledge the criticism of his idea, but in an appearance on "The Charlie Kirk Show," he blamed a "massive misinformation campaign, I believe, funded ultimately, by people on the left who are trying to dupe conservatives."
Groups opposed to the public lands sale argue that Sen. Lee's proposal is what's misinformed. The Center for Biological Diversity released a map on Wednesday night that it said reflects the latest idea, putting lands at risk near the Grand Canyon's north rim, as well as Arches and Zion national parks.
"I think it signals an even greater threat to the Wasatch Front. He’s narrowed it down to five miles of urban centers. That really defines it as St. George, Moab and the entire Wasatch Front," Knuth said of the revised version.
O'Dea said his group objects to the lack of a public process by sticking this in the "Big, Beautiful Bill."
"If we're going to try to solve affordable housing, we need to look at those individual parcels from a community perspective and bring those forward and make sure that we're not going to be building or selling off land that's going to be valuable for mule deer migration, hunting, fishing, etc.," he said.
That view was shared by Montana Congressman Ryan Zinke, who opposed Congresswoman Maloy's version and said he still opposed Sen. Lee's version. Rep. Zinke was Interior Secretary under the first Trump administration.
"Look, whether the public land is in Montana, Utah or Maine, it belongs to all Americans, and all Americans deserve a voice on the highest and best use period," he told Scripps News, adding he would vote against the "Big, Beautiful Bill" if it included the land sale.
"No sale of transfer of public lands without a public discourse," Rep. Zinke said. "And as a former secretary, remember that public discourse involves public comment, consultation, wildlife management, water rights, a myriad of variables, none of which were in this bill."
Sen. Lee did get some support from Sen. Curtis, who issued a statement.
"While the reconciliation text isn’t final, let me assure Utahns that no one supports selling public lands that are environmentally sensitive or part of national parks or important wilderness areas. But it’s a false narrative to say we can’t return some federal lands surrounding developed areas back to local, rural communities to ensure they remain livable," Sen. Curtis wrote.
Sen. Curtis added that any Utahns who have concerns about the proposal are free to contact him or his office.
