In June 2025, Utah Republican Senator Mike Lee proposed The Public Land Sales Provision. This bill would put over 250 million acres of public land up for sale across the United States. Some of the most beautiful land in America would be open to housing development and drilling. Picture Twin Lakes with a highrise apartment complex right next to it. I strongly disagree with this bill because it would have negative impacts on recreation, agriculture, and the environment.
This bill is not only bad on paper, but it would drastically impact our lives in Chaffee County. In Colorado alone, 14 million acres would be put up for sale. That’s around one fifth of the entire state. This bill would privatize land we all use daily. According to Steamboat Today, 2,067 climbing sites, 25,428 trail miles and 328 river miles would be lost. This would be a huge dent in the recreational areas we use.
Not only does this bill take away most of the land that we recreate on, but it also hurts the agriculture industry. Livestock grazing areas would be taken away. Many farmers depend on this public land for their livestock to graze. If this land is taken, it would lead to farmers shutting down their businesses and would greatly affect our economy. Without this public land, farmers would need to find different land for their cattle to graze on, costing them more money. The decrease in land will force farmers to have less livestock and would also negatively affect the economy.
This bill is not only bad for the economy and recreation; it will also affect the environment. With the 250 million acres of public land going up for sale, it opens the land up to development, drilling and fracking, habitat destruction, and industrial logging. This would destroy habitats for native flora and fauna.
In conclusion, if this bill does pass, it would be detrimental to the western states. Opening up 250 million acres of public, clean, beautiful land to drilling, deforestation, and development would affect our lives in more ways than we know. With the possibility of this bill still being brought to the forefront, I do not believe this would be a good decision for America, especially Chaffee County.
