The death of the Big Beautiful Bill’s public land sale amendment last weekend was a big, beautiful victory, but if you haven’t already done your celebrating, I’m sorry but the victory lap window has closed.
This wasn’t the first and won’t be the last run at selling off public lands. Unfortunately, our Utah problem isn’t going away.
Utah? Well, you need to ask voters there. The state has a strong anti-federal bias; a legacy of the Mormon exodus from the east in the 1800s and the religion’s eventual founding of Salt Lake City. But Utah is also a hunting and fishing state, so folks there need to resolve their internal cognitive dissonance about the lands we use to recreate outdoors.
To recap, back in the 115th Congress, in 2017, a pair of Utah House representatives, Rob Bishop and Jason Chaffetz, introduced H.R. 621, which called for selling 3.3 million acres of federal lands. When the backlash hit, Chaffetz memorably tried hiding behind his Labrador puppy as he apologized via social media for not understanding how important those public lands were to his constituents in Utah, and hunters and anglers across the United States.
Then, earlier this year, Utah tried to drag Montana into its latest war on public lands. Beehive State legislators hoped to convince Montana lawmakers to back Utah’s lawsuit trying to force the Feds to sell as much as 18.5 million acres in that state, despite a previous Supreme Court decision that rejected Utah’s claim.
Rep. Tom Millett, R-Marion, introduced that “friend of Utah’s assault on public lands” resolution, but it was shot down in the Montana House, 34-66.
You have to wonder how many times Montana citizens will have to overrun the Helena capitol displaying their support for public lands and access before the state’s politicians get the message.
Well, maybe you’ve finally gotten through. Montana’s congressional delegation played a key role in killing the latest Utah-inspired effort to throw away our public lands.
You’ve surely heard that Utah politician, Sen. Mike Lee, tried to sneak a public-land sell-off into the metastasizing federal budget reconciliation bill working its way through the U.S. Senate (the bill was approved by a 51-50 vote with the vice president casting the tiebreaker on Tuesday).
Lee is the chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and slipped an amendment into the bill that called for selling 2 to 3 million acres of public land. After the initial protest from hunters, anglers and GOP Senators from Montana and Idaho, along with a contrary ruling from the Senate parliamentarian, an undeterred Lee scaled it back to 1.2 million acres.
That amendment was pulled over the weekend, and public land sales were finally off the reconciliation table.
Montana’s congressional delegation stepped up even though Montana wasn’t included in the bill. Apparently, Montana’s reputation for supporting public lands and opposing their sale is so well established, Lee knew to leave out the Treasure State.
Reporting indicates Sens. Steve Daines and Tim Shelby, along with western Rep. Ryan Zinke, all Republicans, pressured Lee to remove the amendment. And partisan affiliations matter here. Democrats have traditionally been stronger on public land and access issues, but that seems to be changing. This increasing bipartisan support for public lands in the Northern Rockies is great news. Full stop.
Still, we can expect the issue to come back, again and again. So now might be a good time to let your congressional delegation know you appreciate their support for public lands, and also that you’re not letting your guard down. Zombie, anti-public-land legislation will surely spread again, most likely from Utah.
Remember, the reconciliation bill Lee tried to amend is going to pile up trillions in additional federal debt. Before too long, some bright boy is going to suggest a public land fire sale to fix that problem.
We need to be ready.