U.S. Senator Mike Lee of Utah says he’s determined to use the budget reconciliation bill before Congress to sell off American public lands. Lee made the comment to E&E News on Monday, and his office didn’t deny the plans in a follow-up statement to reporters on Tuesday.
Representatives Celeste Maloy of Utah and Mark Amodei of Nevada introduced a sell-off amendment in the dead of night during House debate on the bill last month. That provision, which would have led to the disposal of hundreds of thousands of acres of public land in Utah and Nevada, was stripped from the bill after significant bipartisan pushback from Westerners and the new congressional public lands caucus led by Ryan Zinke of Montana and Gabe Vazquez of New Mexico.
Public lands advocates vowed to keep sell-off out of the final bill. Travis Hammell of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance said that Lee’s “hatred of public lands makes him a true outlier in the Senate,” and that his plan for a sell-off “is wildly out of step with what Americans have made it clear that they want to see: federal public lands remaining in public hands.”
On Tuesday, Lee amplified Elon Musk’s criticism of the spending bill. After Musk called it “a disgusting abomination,” Lee replied to a MAGA-aligned cat on Twitter, saying “we have good reason to believe the Senate will pass a more reform-heavy version of the bill.”
Quick hits
Western legislators, hunters on alert against the sale of public lands
Interior plans to ax 18 rules tied to mining, geothermal energy
Three Nevada geothermal projects fast-tracked under questionable environmental review process
Opinion: Trump administration targets firefighters’ health
Colorado counties, towns step up to fund Forest Service workers amid Trump cuts
A dozen teen hikers running out of water underscore dangerous summer unfolding at national parks
New study shows huge groundwater losses along Colorado River
Travel company organizes activist-led national park trips
Quote of the day
It was a complete betrayal of everything we’ve worked on in this state. This amendment is trying to sell off half a million acres of Nevada’s public lands in order to pay for tax cuts for billionaires. This is not going to address our housing problem. These lands are positioned to be sold off for other forms of development and extraction.”
—Nevada Assemblymember Howard Watts, Stateline
Picture This
In many places in southern Nevada, the Old Spanish Trail is still visible. The historic trade route linked New Mexico to California, by way of Nevada. On either side of Las Vegas you can find long stretches of the Old Spanish National Historic Trail, which is preserved and managed by BLM and NPS. Can’t you just imagine wagons and horses and traders crossing the desert here? 🐂