For Immediate Release: Thursday, May 22, 2025

Contacts: 

John Robison, Public Lands & Wildlife Director, (208) 345-6933 x 213

Abby Urbanek, Communications & Marketing Manager, (208) 345-6933 x 214

House Republicans strip sell-off provisions but Public Lands remain at risk

Despite last-minute walk-back, Americans still see the worst environmental bill in a generation as a blueprint for public lands sell-off.

Washington, D.C. – After weeks of public outrage and mounting bipartisan backlash, House Republicans quietly removed a provision that would have mandated the sale of hundreds of thousands of acres of public lands in Nevada and Utah. But while the immediate threat of sell-off may be gone, advocates across the country say the damage remains.

The budget bill—deemed by many as the most dangerous environmental legislation in modern U.S. history—still includes sweeping measures that gut environmental safeguards, fast-track development, and strips the public of any voice in how their lands are managed.

The provision to sell off land was originally slipped into the bill by Reps. Mark Amodei (NV) and Celeste Maloy (UT) just before midnight on May 6 during a Natural Resources Committee hearing. Members had less than 30 minutes to review it. The amendment passed 23-18 along party lines, with Idaho Representative Fulcher supporting the amendment to sell off these lands. 

Citizens across the country called the removal a “temporary concession” that does not change the bill’s core threat to public lands, wildlife, and climate action. The bill is now set for a vote by the full House later this week. 

“Public lands are a core part of our identity and belong to all Americans,” said John Robison, public lands and wildlife director with the Idaho Conservation League. “While we are deeply concerned with other provisions in this astonishingly bad bill, these fast-tracked public lands sales would have set a terrible precedent and done permanent damage to the fabric of communities throughout the West. The people prevailed.”

As the budget bill moves over to the Senate, the Idaho Conservation League encourages Senators Risch and Crapo to follow through and make sure that public lands sales are not included in the Senate version. Both Risch and Crapo have a background of supporting public lands through their respective leadership with the 2008 Idaho Roadless Rule and the Owyhee Initiative and their joint support for community-based groups that collaborate on forest and rangeland management. 

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