Editor's Note: This updates with Senator Mike Lee's refiling of his amendment without the deletion of Section 130.
U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, who earlier this year tried to pass legislation to allow the sale of public lands, tried to crack the door open to disposal of national park lands but dropped the effort when he couldn't get enough support in the Senate.
The Utah Republican had hoped to remove wording from the appropriations bill for the Interior Department that states that the department shall "maintain all Federal lands designated as, or as a part of, a national park unit, a national scenic or national historic trail, or a wild and scenic river as of May 2, 2025 as Federal land and continue to operate such unit, trail, or river as an entity of the National Park Service including for such purposes as Federal employee staffing and entry, permit, and other fee collections."
While Lee's amendment did not directly call for sale or disposal of national park lands, by removing that wording from the legislation it would have given Interior authority to sell or dispose park lands if it so desired.
"If the Senate passes this dangerous amendment, it sends a green-light message to the White House that it’s OK to sell off America’s national park legacy. The future of our national parks is at risk. Senators must stand up and say no — now," Theresa Pierno, president and CEO of the National Parks Conservation Association, wrote in a blog post on the advocacy group's website.
"National parks belong to all Americans. They shouldn’t be political pawns, and they shouldn’t be for sale," added Pierno. "We are weeks away from a yearlong commemoration of the 250th anniversary of America — we should be celebrating our national parks, not selling them."
On Thursday night, Lee refiled his amendment without the deletion of Section 130 after intense pressure from park and public land advocates. However, the Senate left for the holiday recess without finalizing the appropriations package, which has created concern that it leaves Lee more time to create a last-minute deal to undermine public lands and national parks in the bill.
Officials at the Center for Biological Diversity were harsh in their criticism of Lee's effort.
"By taking dead aim at our national parks, Sen. Lee is declaring war on the most beloved public lands in America,” said Randi Spivak, public lands policy director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Lee somehow didn't learn from his last failed attempt to auction off our public lands to private interests, but he's going to lose twice as hard this time. America’s national parks are not for sale, and Americans will again stand up and loudly defend our nation’s beautiful crown jewels from this despicable attempt to privatize and destroy them.”
Lee tried twice earlier this year to pass legislation to allow the sale of other public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service. His first proposal, to auction millions of acres of federal lands to pay for President Donald Trump's budget proposal, was ruled out of the reconciliation bill by the Senate parliamentarian.
It would have opened more than 250 million acres of Western lands to potential sale, although sales would be capped at about 3 million acres. It drew widespread condemnation from state and local elected officials, hunters and anglers, conservationists, and the outdoor recreation industry.
Lee's second effort would have restricted land sales to Bureau of Land Management areas in the West, and require that they're specific to housing projects or associated infrastructure, and required the acres put up for auction to be within five miles of a population center. It too failed.
Then late in the summer the Republican returned once again, with colleagues, with proposed legislation to authorize border access roads on federal lands, coordinated with Customs and Border Protection and local partners, to enable agents and first responders to quickly reach problem areas.
It also would have allowed Homeland Security agents to access structures, installations, and roads; execute search and rescue operations; use motor vehicles, motorboats, and motorized equipment; and conduct patrols on foot and on horseback in official wilderness.
It also would allow for airstrips to be built in wilderness.
As of Thursday afternoon Lee's amendment still had not been voted on in the Senate.
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