In their ongoing attempt to reduce spending and boost revenue, Congressional Republicans are proposing to sell off millions of acres of public land in the West over the next 5 years.
Some of that land includes parcels just outside of Albuquerque – where New Mexicans hike, bike, and ski in the Sandia Mountains.
Overall, around 11 million acres of land is federally owned and managed in the Western United States by the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service.
This draft bill, part of Congress’ slow crawling budget reconciliation process, would force the sale of at least 2 million acres in 11 Western states.
Broadly, more than 250 million acres of public land would be eligible for sale under the proposal, according to an analysis by the Wilderness Society. In New Mexico alone, that includes 14.3 million acres.
Among them: 59,000 acres of Albuquerque’s iconic Sandia Mountains in and around the Cibola National Forest.
“Americans disagree about a lot of things, but most of us are on the same page about keeping public lands in public hands,” said Michael Carroll, director of the BLM campaign at the Wilderness Society in a statement.
“Shoving the sale of public lands back into the budget reconciliation bill, all to fund tax cuts for the wealthy, is a betrayal of future generations and folks on both sides of the aisle.”
Other areas that could be affected include recreation trails in the Manzano Mountains and wildlife habitat in the Gila and Carson National Forests. Large portions of BLM land near Las Cruces are also marked for sale. A complete map from the Wilderness Society can be found here.
The effort is spearheaded by U.S. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Lee has said on social media that it’s not “fair” to taxpayers that the federal government controls so much land.
He hopes that, if this language becomes part of President Donald Trump’s “one, big, beautiful bill,” “underutilized” land will be used to build housing, support development, and expand oil, gas, coal, and geothermal leasing.
U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-New Mexico) condemned the last-minute provision in a statement, calling it “morally indefensible” to strip public lands out of the hands of the American people.
The proposal would not touch federally protected areas – such as national monuments, national parks and wilderness areas. However, the current language gives some discretion to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to pick and choose where land can be sold.
Just last month, climate and community advocacy organizations successfully pushed back on a similar, but smaller public land sell-off provision in the House of Representatives. That version of the bill proposed selling half a million acres.
Because of the reconciliation process, lawmakers can pass any changes with a simple majority — just 51 votes in the Senate — bypassing the usual 60-vote threshold needed to overcome a filibuster.
The Senate is expected to vote on its version of the budget reconciliation bill before it recesses on July 4.
