The House Natural Resources Committee voted to sell off thousands of acres of national public land in Utah and Nevada and reduce and remove restrictions for extraction on millions of acres of land in a late-night amendment to the reconciliation bill making its way through Congress.
In the dead of night, 26 members of Congress, with no debate or explanation, voted to sell off public land that belongs to all Americans. Their refusal to explain why they want to privatize thousands of acres of public land and open millions more acres up to unmitigated destruction shows they know their votes are indefensible and unpopular. The American people love their public lands and want to see them protected, not sold off to the highest bidder.
The marathon markup session lasted the entire day and into the night, as Democrats on the committee introduced a string of amendments that would keep higher royalty rates on oil and gas production and protect public lands. When those members asked Republicans to debate or defend their spending bill, the majority members sat in silence, often for minutes at a time, rather than explain their vote. At one point, the sound of crickets played in the hearing room while Rep. Joe Neguse waited in a futile effort to discuss the reconciliation bill. In all, the committee rejected more than 120 amendments to the bill.
But as midnight approached, Reps. Mark Amodei of Nevada and Celeste Maloy of Utah introduced an amendment that would require the Interior Department to sell off an unspecified amount of public land in Nevada and about 11,000 acres of public land in Utah. Amodei claimed the sale “would generate billions in federal revenue.” The first version of the bill released last week did not contain any land sell-off provisions.
Meanwhile, Rep. Bruce Westerman is projecting the bill will produce about $18.5 billion in savings, largely driven by quarterly onshore lease sales, new offshore leasing in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska’s Cook Inlet and four new leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The last federal lease sale in the Arctic failed to draw a single bid.
Privatizing public lands is a drastic step that should be made with public input and congressional debate — not during a midnight vote on a budget bill. Once these lands are gone, they’re gone forever. That means no more hiking, no more biking, no more grazing, no more habitat for wildlife. Now it’s up to the full House and Senate to listen to their constituents and reject this sell-off, once it’s seen in the harsh light of day.