Prospect of public land sales raise concerns locally

A Senate version of the “Big Beautiful” budget bill calls for selling off  about 3 million acres of public lands in the west.

While none of them are in Montana, the move by Senate Republicans has struck a nerve with local conservation groups.

“Public lands belong to all of us, they are our shared heritage, the places where any of us, regardless of income or status, can hunt, fish, gather, explore, or simply get outside to enjoy time with friends or family,” said Glacier Two Medicine Alliance Director Peter Metcalf. “Though Montana may be excluded from the mandate, it’s passage would set a dangerous precedent that will lead to further widespread sell-offs, including right here in northwest Montana. And once these lands are sold, we’re not getting them back.”

“The scale of the proposed land grab is shocking, especially considering that just a few weeks ago Congressmen Ryan Zinke and Troy Downing admirably kept their promises and succeeded in stripping a comparatively modest proposal to sell 500,000-acres of public lands in Utah and Nevada from the House’s version of the bill,” the Alliance said in a release.

The House version passed with votes by both Montana Congressman, though Zinke made sure any sales provisions were stripped from it.

Montana Sen. Steve Daines, a Republican who supports the overall bill, released the following statement through his spokeswoman Gabby Wiggins:

“Senator Daines is against the sale of public lands, but glad to see Montana is exempt,” she said.

The land sale is supposed to bolster the availability of affordable housing, proponents claim.

The proposal stipulates that the sold land will have to be used to develop housing or “community development needs,” which it said could be defined by the secretaries of the Interior or Agriculture departments. The 11 states that would be affected by the proposal are Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming, the Washington Post reported.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said in a statement that the draft legislative text would turn “federal liabilities into taxpayer value, while making housing more affordable for hardworking American families.”

Federal lands have been sold off locally in the past, but not nearly to the extent proposed in the spending measure.

In 2005, the Forest Service auctioned off 90 acres of land in Hungry Horse, which sold for $2.38 million. The proceeds were used to fund a new Hungry Horse/Glacier View Ranger Station.

The old ranger station, which was part of the sale, remains vacant to this day and the land itself was never developed, though at one point was eyed for a housing development.