Not One Acre: How the Sporting Community Stood Tall for Public Lands
Everyone who values the public lands of the American West has, by this point, gotten accustomed to having to defend them from time to time. Skirmishes in this struggle are ever-present, and every decade or so a truly dire threat to this cornerstone of our national heritage seems to rear its ugly head.
The most recent large-scale attempt, prior to the recent dust up led by Senator Mike Lee of Utah, was back in 2016-2017 when Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah introduced a bill that would have ordered the Secretary of Interior to dispose of 3.3 million acres of federal land. Public land rallies were held in statehouses across the West, with thousands holding up large signs reading “Keep Public Lands in Public Hands” and “Our Lands Are Not For Sale”. Sportsmen and women, in particular, raised their voices in an undeniable wave that garnered national attention. After a chorus of pushback from the sporting community and all public land users, Rep. Chaffetz withdrew his proposal. His withdrawal was a victory that seemed to take large-scale public land sales off the table - at least for a while. But sale and transfer efforts continued to lurk in the shadows, only to break back into full force over the past year.
What became immediately apparent was that those seeking to dispose of public lands had learned from previous attempts, and their techniques and methods had become more sophisticated. Rather than advocating for sale in an open forum where the public had a clear voice, they pivoted to arenas with fewer public engagement opportunities. Marketing strategies had also improved and The State of Utah has spent millions of taxpayer dollars on a campaign to force transfer of federal lands to the state. In 2024, Utah filed suit with the U.S. Supreme Court - backed by several other states, governors, and attorneys general - claiming the federal government must turn over “unappropriated lands” immediately. In January, the Supreme Court denied the petition.
That’s where this most recent iteration of the ongoing saga over our public lands begins. Following the Supreme Court decision to deny Utah’s petition, we began hearing rumblings about the potential for congressional action relating to public land sales in the Budget Reconciliation process. Budget Reconciliation, in short, is an expedited process that is subject to its own special rules and is designed to pass budget and tax related measures. Unlike the typical legislative process, which requires 60 Senators in support to overcome opposition, a simple majority gets things through the reconciliation process. No filibuster in the Senate.
The first lands sale attempt came from the House, where Representative Mark Amodei (NV) pushed a late night proposal to mandate disposal of half a million acres in Utah and Nevada. While this technically would have only applied to two states, sportsmen and women unified from across the country to rally against this short-sighted proposal - understanding that it was a threat to public lands users everywhere. Representatives Zinke (MT) and Simpson (ID) led the charge to remove this language from the House side.
Enter Senator Mike Lee. A Senator from Utah, Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and outspoken Public Lands critic.
Senator Lee dropped a much bigger, uglier proposal in the Senate reconciliation package than what we had seen on the House side. Lee’s original proposal would have mandated that 0.5%-0.75% of both Bureau of Land Management and National Forest lands across 11 Western states - notably excluding Montana but including Idaho - be disposed of over a five year period. All told, between 2 and 3 million acres of land. The Secretaries of Interior and Agriculture would have been congressionally mandated to hold a nominations process and sale of public land parcels every 30 days until that target was met. How the nomination process would work was vague at best, and nominations could be made by “interested parties” - a designation with no clear definition. Which lands would have been eligible for sale was just as murky, with enormous swaths of the West seemingly at risk of going up on the auction block. Ostensibly the rationale was to help solve the affordable housing crisis, but nothing in the bill included any assurance that lands could or would be used for that purpose. To add onto this mess, the revenues generated from the sale of these lands would largely be directed to the US Treasury, where that money would likely never be put towards conservation efforts.
In a historic show of unity, the sporting public shifted into high gear and rallied behind our public lands. IWF and our partner organizations sent out calls to action, urging sportsmen and women across Idaho to tell Senators Risch and Crapo that this language had no place in budget reconciliation. You all sent thousands of emails, made thousands of phone calls, shared stories on social media, and jammed up all lines of communication to congressional offices. You emailed on your lunch break, you called on your hike, and you posted about your favorite public land parcel at risk of being sold off. Not just once, but for days and weeks on end.
At the risk of sounding hyperbolic, Idaho hunters and anglers turned the tide on a nationwide effort to remove public land sales from Reconciliation. Responding to the will of their constituents made clear through all those calls and emails, Senators Risch and Crapo released statements on the same day saying they opposed Senator Lee’s proposal. It was a watershed moment in the fight.
Following these statements, the momentum kept building. Representatives Simpson and Zinke rallied members on the House side around a letter to Senate Majority Leader Thune stating that any reference to public land sales would be unacceptable to the House, setting up what would be a potentially significant delay in the passage of the overall bill. This was another pivotal action that helped to bury this bill.
In the face of stiff opposition - both from the public as well as procedurally in the Senate after the Senate Parliamentarian ruled that his original proposal was too policy heavy to comply with the rules of reconciliation, Senator Lee revised his language multiple times in an effort to get it through. The second iteration dropped the mandated sale of Forest Service land and clarified some language, even giving a nod to the sporting community by indicating that some percentage of sale proceeds would be spent on “hunting, fishing, and recreation amenities”, although it was never clear what such amenities might be. The final draft of the language dispensed with the pretext of affordability altogether and stated that land with the “highest value” would be prioritized for sale.
Through all of these iterations, opposition to the bill only grew. Sportsmen and women made it clear that sale of public lands through the rushed process of budget reconciliation would not be acceptable in any form. Not one acre. It came down to the wire, but the pressure worked. Facing the threat of a failed vote on the floor, Senator Lee pulled his language on June 28th.
One of the great privileges of working for the Idaho Wildlife Federation is seeing the work that we do supported by the community we represent. Through the collective response to this threat to our way of life, IWF knew that we had the backing of thousands of sportsmen and women across the state. In meetings with Congressional Offices and other decision makers over these eventful weeks, the pressure exerted by all those calls and emails was palpable, and we could see the impact it was having in real time. Each meeting IWF staff had, we heard “You hunters and anglers have jammed up our phone lines.” They didn’t have to guess where the public stood on this. They knew. That’s because sportsmen and women know the value of these lands. No matter how isolated, difficult to manage, or how close to communities they are. They are home to the fish and wildlife we cherish, and they are the places where we build traditions with our families.
The threats to public lands remain. We must remain vigilant. But we should also take the time to acknowledge what a win this was, and the power of a united sporting community. Take the time to enjoy those lands that you spoke up for. Remember them this fall when you are hunting on them. It’s those experiences that we all have hunting, fishing, and recreating that make these highlighted parcels on a map so personal.
From all of us at Idaho Wildlife Federation, thank you for never underestimating the power of your voice. You turned the tide on a national scale and prevented large scale public land sales yet again. Stay focused, and stay ready. But for now, grab your bow, set up your rod, and head out into the hills to enjoy your birthright.