Nearly 2 million acres of federal land in Utah would be up for sale under new proposal

SALT LAKE CITY — The U.S. Senate is considering selling off even more federal land in Utah as part of the president’s budget bill.

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, recently reinstated language in the bill allowing the government to sell some federal lands in Western States to create more housing space. The proposal was originally introduced by Congresswoman Celeste Maloy, R-Utah.

Lee, who is also the chair of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, recently addressed the proposal in a video:

“We’re opening underused federal land to expand housing, support local development and get Washington D.C. out of the way for communities that are just trying to grow,” he said.

But it has since undergone some changes.

The Wilderness Society, a conservation non-profit, did a full analysis of the bill.

The analysis found that the initial version offered over 1.9 million acres of federal lands in Utah for sale. But under the latest version, nearly ten times more land would be available.

The bill does not direct the government on which lands to sell specifically. It just directs them to sell a specific percentage of them.

However, the bill does make it clear that protected lands like national parks, monuments and recreation areas are off the table.

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