Public lands sale cannot be on table in Congress' budget process
Centennial Mountains Wilderness Study Area, MT
Bob Wick, Bureau of Land Management
Sell-off proposals part of same broad effort as mass staff terminations at land agencies
WASHINGTON D.C. (April 2, 2025) — According to reporting by E&E News and Axios, Republican leaders in Congress are considering the sale of public lands as part of their efforts to advance a budget package that will fund Trump administration domestic policy priorities, including tax cuts for the wealthy.
"Public lands belong to the American people. These are the places we hunt, fish, hike and commemorate our history and culture. Selling them off cannot be an option in the budget process, full stop."
Jordan Schreiber, government relations director at The Wilderness Society, made the following statement in response to these reports:
“Public lands belong to the American people. These are the places we hunt, fish, hike and commemorate our history and culture. Selling them off cannot be an option in the budget process, full stop. We’ve already seen this administration fire thousands of park rangers and other staff, weakening the agencies that are entrusted with managing our national parks, forests, wildlife refuges and other special places, and this is part of the same larger effort to end the institution of public lands as we know it.
“We commend those lawmakers who have already stated their opposition to this idea, and ask that all members of Congress involved in the budget process consider the broad and enduring popularity of public lands, and the preference of the American people that they be conserved and managed carefully for the enjoyment of future generations—not cordoned off for use by private interests or exploited for short-term financial gain.”
Contact: newsmedia@tws.org / max_greenberg@tws.org
