Lee, a Utah Republican and the Senate Energy Chairman, previously proposed selling almost 3 million acres of public lands in 11 western states for housing or infrastructure builds. The original plan would have included parts of the Unita and Wasatch mountain ranges.
The Associated Press reports the plan would revive a longtime ambition of Western conservatives to place public lands under local control. A similar proposal failed in the House version of the budget bill.
Lee’s plan received a mixed reception Monday at a western states governors meeting in New Mexico. It’s also been denounced by environmental advocates as a betrayal of public trust.
Elizabeth MacDonough, the parliamentarian, advised the public lands sell off would be subject to the 60-vote “Byrd rule” point of order if it was not removed from the budget reconciliation bill.
That rule bars extraneous provisions that are not focused on fiscal concerns.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports late Monday, Lee announced on X that he planned to make major revisions to his proposal.
The revised proposal would take forest service lands off the table along with a significant chunk of the Bureau of Land Management acreage he formerly offered up.
Housing prices are crushing families and keeping young Americans from living where they grew up. We need to change that.
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) June 24, 2025
Thanks to YOU—the AMERICAN PEOPLE—here’s what I plan to do:
1. REMOVE ALL Forest Service land. We are NOT selling off our forests.
2. SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE…
