Sale of Public Lands

(Click HERE to view The Wilderness Society's interactive map of eligible lands.)

Update: Wednesday, June 25^th:

We understand that the initial provisions of the budget reconciliation bill aimed at the sale of US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management lands in 11 Western states, including Washington have been (at least temporarily) blocked. The Senate Parliamentarian determined on Monday that these provisions do not meet the “Byrd Rule” and as such could not be included in the One Big Beautiful Bill. In addition, bipartisan pushback from citizens in the West has been strong. The provision’s sponsor, Senator Lee from Utah, has stated he will revise the provision and bring it back. We have not yet seen text of his provision.

We encourage you to continue to let our Congressional Representatives and Senators know that you appreciate their strong support for keeping public lands in public hands.

****************************************************************************************************************************************

Friday, June 20th.

We don’t usually do this. But today, I’m asking you to take action on behalf of the human and wild community of the Methow Valley. As you’ll see detailed below, there is an effort afoot to encourage (even mandate) the sale of public lands in Western states, including Washington. While this isn’t the first time such an effort has been tried, the scale and the swift timeline proposed are unprecedented.

The proposal is ostensibly for the purpose of making more land available for affordable housing, but the loopholes are many and the potential impacts are significant. Certainly, affordable housing is an important issue worth addressing – and many (including us) are already working on this issue in the Methow Valley, identifying land close to where people work and already live.

You and all of us at the Methow Conservancy have been working hard to protect vital wildlife habitat, scenic views, and the health of the Methow Valley’s ecology and economy – and this proposed bill, which seems to have some real traction behind it, jeopardizes all we have been working for. It’s time to speak up. I hope you’ll reach out to your Senators and Member of Congress and remind them that our public lands should stay in public hands.

Respectfully,

Sarah Brooks, Executive Director, Methow Conservancy

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

In the last week, the Senate’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee reintroduced the selling of public lands into the budget reconciliation bill (aka the One Big Beautiful Bill). If passed, this provision of the bill could have real impacts in the Methow Valley. It is our understanding that much of the US Forest Service land in the Methow Valley from Alta Lake to Washington Pass and up the Chewuch to the edge of the Pasayten would be in the areas designated as eligible for sale.

Here’s what you need to know:

• The Senate bill would make more than 250 million acres of public land in 11 Western States, including Washington State, eligible for sale.
• More specifically, it mandates the sale of 2 to 3 million acres of US Forest Service Land and Bureau of Land Management land in the next five years.
• The Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior will have broad discretion to determine which lands to put up for sale.
• The bill does require some “consultation” with local governments and Tribes, but does not require public comment – long a mainstay in any process to transfer ownership of public lands.
• It would also remove the requirements to analyze any potential benefits of a land sale against lost recreation, clean water, wildlife, cultural resources, and other values.
• The bill justifies the sales in an effort to make land available for affordable housing – a real issue in many of the 11 Western states covered in the bill. However, an analysis by Headwaters Economics out of Bozeman, MT, notes that the vast majority of the land under consideration is not located close enough to existing towns to make affordable housing feasible.
• The bill provides only vague descriptions of how the sold land can be used and has no requirements for covenants or deed restrictions or other mechanisms for ensuring affordability, meaning there are real possibilities the land could be sold to the highest bidder and used for exclusive developments.

Click HERE to view The Wilderness Society's interactive map that shows the more than 250 million acres of land across 11 western states that will be eligible for sale if the budget reconciliation bill passes.

TAKE ACTION

Washington State Senators Murray and Cantwell have offered strong statements against the public land sales provision. District 4 Representative Newhouse is a founding member of the bipartisan Public Lands caucus, “committed to protecting access to public lands and ensuring they are preserved for future generations.”

As a conservation organization that has been working to inspire people to care for the land since 1996, the Methow Conservancy is asking for you to use your voice. We hope that you will let Senators Murray and Cantwell and Representative Newhouse know that you appreciate their commitment to keeping public lands in public hands and that you hope they will continue to speak up against this potentially devastating provision.

You can contact your Methow Valley Senators and Congressman here:
Senator Murray (1-202-224-2621)
Senator Cantwell (1-202-224-3441)
Representative Newhouse (1-202-225-5816)

And if you live outside of District 4, you can find your Congress member HERE.

Thank you for helping to try to keep public lands in public hands!