Bill mandating the sale of public land reduced in scope

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) — A controversial bill championed by Utah Senator Mike Lee has been reduced in scope. The bill previously required the sale of public lands from both the Bureau of Land Management and National Forests. Now, it contains language specifically excluding national forests and reduces the percentage of land BLM needs to sell.

Sen. Lee posted this on X in reference to amendments made to the bill:

Sen. Lee says his motivation for spearheading this bill related to housing. In an interview on the Charlie Kirk show, Senator Lee said, "Americans need and deserve the chance to buy a home."

A study in 2024 conducted by the Institute for Family Studies shows that 79% of American’s under 55 want a detached single-family home, but only 59 percent of the people as part of the study are currently living in that kind of housing.

Even in it's original form, the bill contained a provision that any land sold would need to be used for housing or community needs for at least ten years.

Other points in the bill:

• BLM land must put 0.25% and 0.5%, an estimated 609,379 - 1.225 million acres of public land according to outdoorlife.com.
• Land is sold via auction, competitive sale, or other methods at no less than fair market value.
• States and local governments get first refusal
• Land must be used for housing or community needs for at least 10 years.
• Land sold must be within 5 miles of a population center (undefined)
• Buyers are limited to 2 tracts per sale unless they already own surrounding land(governments are exempt from this)
• All land sales must be completed within 5 years of the bills passage.

Money made from land sales will be dispersed in the following ways:

• Five percent going to the local governments to help with infrastructure
• Five percent going to the Bureau of Land Management to fix maintenance backlogs
• Ninety percent going to the United States Treasury

John Robison of the Idaho Conservation League was, and remains against the bill. He represents the sentiments of several conservation groups when he says “Public lands are not an asset on the balance sheet, they're not a Venmo account for the ultra-wealthy to tap into for a tax break."

Robison points out that BLM already has a method of selling public land, and that the Federal Lands and Policy Act mandates the public have a say in which lands can be considered for sale. He says this bill would bypass the public approval process, only mandating that land be chosen and sold.