Utah pushing yet another public land grab

Written By Kathy Bence

by Michelle peot

It has only been a month since Representative Celeste Maloy's attempted public land grab, and now Senator Mike Lee is at it, once again trying to sell off our public lands.

Even worse than Celeste Maloy's amendment

In addition to accelerating oil, gas, coal, and mining leases on federal land, Lee's proposed amendment to the budget bill requires a mandatory sell off of 0.5 to 0.75% of Bureau of Land Management and US Forest Service land in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming for "local housing needs (including housing supply and affordability) or any associated infrastructure to support local housing needs." 

In Utah, this would amount to a mandatory sell-off of approximately 204,600 to 306,900 acres of public lands.  

While exemptions are currently listed for sensitive areas, like National Parks, National Monuments, National Recreation Areas, and Wilderness Areas, UT politicians have continually attempted to chip away at those protections. The bill was also amended last weekend to remove an exemption for land under a grazing lease, upping the total eligible acreage to 250 million, 18.7 million in UT alone.

The Wilderness Society created an online map of Bureau of Land Management (orange) and US Forest Service (green) land that would be eligible for sale should this amendment pass.  Included are areas that many of us treasure for OHV riding, target shooting, mountain biking, hiking, horseback riding, and farming.  It's what makes our area like no other.

A gift to developers, not UT residents

"Local housing needs" is intentionally vague to serve the interests of developers, who prize high-end resorts and second homes, like Southern Shores or Black Desert, over developments that meet the needs of UT residents and working families. Since land adjacent to existing development is prioritized, southern UT public lands would undoubtedly be sold off for development, development for which we lack sufficient water.

What is not explicitly excluded from the land grab are watersheds that are critical to our regional water supply, and lands leased for water infrastructure, including the Leeds Domestic Waterusers Association (LDWA) infrastructure that serves nearly all Leeds residents.

As mentioned in the post about Celeste Maloy's attempted land grab amendment, there are already existing processes to acquire public land for the public benefit, which are subject to public input and Congressional oversight.  This is an effort to circumvent these processes.

A broad spectrum of groups oppose the amendment

In addition to conservation groups, outdoor recreational groups, like Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, and off-road site RideApart oppose the amendment.

What to expect

Senator Lee is attempting to tack this amendment onto the already bloated Congressional budget bill to hide it from public and Congressional scrutiny.  It would have to pass both the Senate and the House.

What you can do

With help from the public and western states GOP Senators, like Montana's Ryan Zinke, we were able to shut down Celeste Maloy's prior land grab attempt. We can do it again.

Call your Senators and US Rep early next week before the Senate votes on the budget bill.




Kathy Bence
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