In the News

Colorado’s congressional and local leaders are responding to a proposed budget reconciliation bill that proposes making more than 250 million acres of public lands eligible for sale.

The Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee (SENR) budget reconciliation bill proposed by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), released June 11 and updated June 14, would force the sale of at least 2 million acres of U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management lands in 11 Western states over the next five years. The secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture would have broad discretion in determining which acres should be sold off. 

Sen. John Hickenlooper said in a June 13 statement, “Washington is trying to tell Colorado what land is for sale. This is a top-down tyrannical execution of authority that strips Colorado and our local communities of our ties to some of our most sacred landscapes. Our public lands are not for sale now, or ever. We stopped a similar effort in the House – we’ll stop this one, too.”

The Wilderness Society reported that, based on the disposal criteria in the legislation from June 14, Colorado has 14,352,632 acres available for sale. More than 9.3 million acres are USFS land, while more than 4.9 million acres are BLM land.  

Hickenlooper, who is on the SENR committee, and his office reported that, in addition to the public lands sale provision, the bill rescinds Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funding for the National Park Service (NPS) and BLM, including $267 million for the National Park Service to pay for rangers, maintenance, emergency responders and scientists. The bill would also eliminate IRA funding for updates to the electric grid, industrial decarbonization and tribal energy loans.

The Center for Western Priorities released a statement from Executive Director Jennifer Rokala on June 17. 

“Just when we thought this provision couldn’t get worse, it does,” Rokala said. “This revision more than doubles the amount of national public land on the chopping block, putting some of our most beloved public lands at risk. 

Sen. Michael Bennet and other representatives from Colorado hosted a press call June 13 to express concerns about the bill. 

During the call Bennet said, “Bipartisan opposition to this public land grab is growing as details emerge about what lands could be sold. Anyone who hikes, hunts, ranches, rides, climbs or camps on public lands should be worried about losing access to public lands if this provision remains in the reconciliation bill.

“They’ve kind of tried to slip this in, almost, I think, hoping nobody would notice it, and they have written it in a way that could threaten some of the most treasured public lands in the West and in Colorado,” Bennet continued. “Some of our most accessible spots to hunt and fish, some of the places that are closest to our towns and cities, are now at risk because of the way they have drafted this bill.”

The public lands sell-off provisions exclude protected areas like national monuments, but if the administration were to alter or remove monuments, those areas could become eligible, if not subject to another exemption like valid existing rights. 

The Department of Justice released an opinion June 10 that argues presidents have the power to both create and undo national monuments under the 1906 Antiquities Act, departing from the 1938 DOJ opinion finding monument designations irrevocable and unchangeable.

Subtitle C of the SENR provision says that the secretary concerned (Interior or Agriculture) would need to consult with the governor of the state where the nominated land is, as well as with any applicable units of local government or tribal authorities.

However, the provision does not specify what that consultation would involve and bypasses regular public comment and land use planning procedures that currently occur through the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976.

Bennet said, “What is particularly offensive to me about it is that they seem to have cut a deal with the senators from Montana to leave Montana out of this and to have the 2.3 to 3.3 million acres come from the rest of the Western states. I doubt very much that’s going to fly in Montana. I know a lot of people in Montana, and I know that’s a place that treasures its public lands, as well.”

In 2017, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) introduced legislation to sell off 3.3 million acres of public lands in Utah, but the bill was withdrawn after widespread backlash from hunters, anglers and the conservation community. 

Federal land management agencies do have existing authorities to dispose of small acreages through FLPMA, but this bill bypasses the procedures and guardrails outlined in the act. 

Over the weekend, Senate Republicans released new legislative text that makes lands with grazing leases available for sale. 

“Public lands make Colorado Colorado. They make the West the West,” Bennet said. “They’re the foundation of our economy, and they represent treasured parts of our culture, our geography and our history. … That’s an important part of our obligation as elected officials in our state and in the West, to protect the work that our parents and grandparents did for us, much less protect the legacy that our kids and grandkids are going to want to embrace. Selling off these lands is deeply unpopular among Democrats, Republicans and unaffiliated voters throughout the West. That's the reason why in Colorado, Democrats and Republicans have already spoken.”

In the spring, the Colorado General Assembly came together “almost unanimously,” Bennet said, to proclaim that public lands in the state are not for sale, “because no matter your party, auctioning off our children’s and grandchildren’s inheritance is the last thing that we’re going to do.”

Rep. Joe Neguse, a Democrat representing Colorado’s 2nd Congressional District, said his district is the third most rural district in Colorado and is made up of nearly 60% federal lands. 

“The announcement by Senate Republicans of their effort to potentially sell off anywhere from 2 to 3 million acres of BLM and Forest Service lands combined across Western states, including in Colorado, is a five-alarm fire for public lands preservation. It is a five-alarm fire for hunters here in Colorado, for fishermen, for conservationists, for recreationists and for every Coloradan, folks who enjoy these lands and who are committed to preserving them for future generations,” Neguse said. “We’re going to have to use every tool we can to prevent these land sales from ultimately getting across the finish line. … I’m certainly grateful to have our partnership in that effort with my colleagues in the House.”

Democratic Rep. Jason Crow (Colorado’s 6th Congressional District) said that Coloradans and Westerners “know that one of our greatest legacies and one of our greatest resources are public lands. It doesn’t matter what political affiliation you are. Doesn’t matter your background, your race, your creed, we all enjoy these lands, and they’re our lands, and the idea that we’re going to sell those off, that the Trump administration is going to sell these lands off to help pay for tax breaks to billionaires and corporations, a one-time tax break is just beyond the pale to, I think, to any Coloradan and Westerner.

“To think that we were the beneficiaries of prior generations that made sacrifices to give these lands to us, and that we are going to our back on that responsibility, we’re not going to carry that sacred trust forward into future generations is just not something we are willing to allow to happen,” he said. 

Rep. Brittany Pettersen (7th Congressional District), a Democrat whose district includes Chaffee County, noted the reliance on tourism in rural parts of her district. 

“This would absolutely devastate these local communities if they are forced to sell off, which is exactly what this proposal, what is being discussed, would do,” she said. “Even though the Natural Resource Committee was able to take out some of the worst pieces of this, they were unable to take out the funding that is going through the reconciliation package, went through the House, which would take away almost $300 million that was dedicated to expanding our Forest Services to protect our public lands.”

She also cited “increased use and appreciation with the pandemic, and we’ve seen the consequences of not having enough staff to protect the places we all cherish so much.”

During their regular meeting on June 17, the Chaffee County Board of Commissioners also spoke about the proposed sell-offs. According to a May 13 resolution from the BOCC, 83% of Chaffee County is public land.

Commissioner Gina Lucrezi said, “We had Hickenlooper’s office online (during the June 16 leadership roundtable), … and obviously they can’t speak for the senators, but I think it’s pretty evident that they’ll fight back. You don’t want to sell any of these public lands. I’m pretty sure they’re on board.”

She said she’s had several people reach out to ask the senators to do more. 

“I write back to them, saying, ‘Colorado senators are on board. We’re good. But instead of hammering these guys, why don’t we focus on senators in New Hampshire or North Carolina or Pennsylvania or places that don’t have a lot of public land that might not understand the importance, why we want to keep it in public hands versus it being sold?’” Lucrezi said. “Patrick (Ortiz of Hickenlooper’s office) had mentioned that’s along the lines of exactly what he hopes more people will do, is reaching out to senators in other places. 

“We need to be speaking to the senators that want to sell the land or those that don’t understand … because it isn’t surrounding where they live,” she said. “So it’s kind of my call to action for folks listening in. … I think our senators are doing a great job, and they can help protect us and our public lands. But speaking to people, obviously, in other places, I think, is where we need to be putting our effort and energy.”

Just one week ago, the State Land Board did not vote on whether to renew a lease on a portion of state land that local geothermal company Mt. Princeton Geothermal had hoped to use for test well drilling. On May 13, the commissioners approved Resolution 2025-26, which expressed support for public lands remaining public. 

Commissioner Dave Armstrong said, “It’s flawed, all the way down, to use the sale of assets of the family home, so to speak, if you want to figure it that way, to justify flawed financial economics, to pass along tax abatement and decreases to people that don’t need it.”

Chaffee County borders the San Isabel National Forest, is home to Browns Canyon National Monument and includes various recreation and wilderness areas. It is part of the USFS Salida and Leadville Ranger Districts and the Rocky Mountain Region of the BLM. 

Commissioner and board Chair P.T. Wood said, “Just to add on to the ridiculous thought that we should sell off our national forests right now. I think, like Commissioner Lucrezi said, … we really need to be reaching out to those senators on the East Coast and other Republican senators in the West, even, whose public lands are at threat, and really pushing them to fight against this. 

“I think it’s also, if you’re a Coloradan, it’s worth reaching out to Rep. (Jeff) Hurd, because whatever winds up being there is going to have to go back to the House, just to pair it back up, right? And he could be one of the important swing votes in the House on that,” he said. “I don’t see anyone selling off public lands in Chaffee County getting away with it without a fight. It is not OK.”