250+ Million Acres of Public Land Could Be Sold Under New Budget Bill

[Bill]

I’m all in favor of logging, mining and drilling with the least damage possible. but not in favor of selling it off that’s for sure.

 

[Foggy47]

I agree with keeping ownership on much of this land. What can be an issue to me is the "preservationists" that want no change, ever, to the land that could hold so many benefits to our people. I think we do need to exploit some of these things. They were put there for us to use....but we need to do so wisely. That is not impossible.

I think we all know that land and habitat can be made better via management......so what is different in federally owned land?

 

[Skeeter]

I hope this is the correct place to share this, and I hope we can have a respectful and thoughtful conversation about this.

The Senate's updated version of the budget reconciliation bill (or Big Beautiful Bill) proposes increasing leasing of public land to logging and oil and gas development as well as selling protected public land. I'm sure there is going to be an array of opinions on this, but as a group of likeminded outdoorsmen, I think this is something we should all be aware of. Our elected officials are proposing a massive land and resource transfer from from the American masses to a select group of corporate elite. These lands were protected with bipartisan support over many decades, and I feel should remain in the hands of the American public.

I've been fortunate to spend time hiking, hunting, fishing, camping, etc. in many of these places, both on the East Coast and throughout the American West. I deeply love this nation and feel incredibly fortunate to be born here. Access to vast, beautiful, diverse and unadultered lands is one of the many things I love about this nation. Political affiliation aside, I desperately hope to see these lands remain protected for the enjoyment of the generations to come.

This map visualizes the 250+ million acres of public lands eligible for sale in the Senate budget reconciliation package.

View attachment 79028

Regardless of which side of the coin you land on this matter, consider reaching out to your senator to voice your opinion.

I think the title of the thread is a bit misleading. There may be over 250 million acres that qualify as eligible to be sold under the Senate proposal, but the proposal also limits the percentage of federal land that could be sold to between 0.5% to 0.75%. This creates a maximum of around 3.2 million acres that could be sold under the bill.
According to a quick Google search, approximately 40% of the land in the USA is owned by some level of government, 28% by the federal government alone. How much public land do we need? Is that really a responsibile use of resources?