SLVEC resistance continues against public land sales

PRESS RELEASE

The Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, ruled this week that Senator Mike Lee’s (R-Utah) proposal to force the sale of public lands violates the Byrd Rule and cannot be included in the budget reconciliation package. As a result, Lee has now introduced a fourth version of his public lands legislation in the bill.

Senator Lee is taking advantage of his new leadership role as Chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. This forth “language” iteration has removed Forest Service lands from the selloff, and instead focuses solely on Bureau of Land (BLM) Management lands. Within the current language, the BLM would be required to sell between 612,500 to 1.225 million acres in 11 Western states, including Colorado, before 2034.

The apparent justification for this public lands sell off is to ostensibly build more housing; though the language is vague, and limited to land within 5 miles of "population centers"—an undefined term that could apply to lands near virtually any community; including areas now used for family/outdoor recreation.

There are numerous “poison pills” built into this reconciliation bill, not just the BLM public lands sell off, but also directing efforts towards the privatization of public lands; handing over large parcels to the timber industry, through 20-year leases, and providing an authorization path that furthers renewal once the lease expires. 

Simultaneously, there is specific language over-riding public or government accountability, under the guise of “fast-tracking” and providing cart blanche to the lease holder to manage the area as if it were their own private property. The Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) are also being eviscerated through Executive Orders and other bills being introduced in tandem with this reconciliation bill. It’s not alarmist to say that industry has gone into the real estate business at the expense of our public lands.

A narrower eligibility pool could shift the target to cherished recreation areas, such as Penitente Canyon, near communities. (c) Stefan Welsh

YOU ARE NOT ALONE, some important feedback from Coloradans:

The fifteenth annual Conservation in the West Poll (2025) reveals there is no mandate from voters in the West to roll back public lands protections, expand oil and gas development; or turn forests into 20-year leases for private tree farms.

Even though 81 percent expressing serious concern about the rising cost of living in the poll, Westerners do not want to sacrifice public lands to build more housing. 

82 percent of Westerners, no matter their political persuasion, prefer building more housing within or closer to existing communities.

69% prefer that leaders place more emphasis on protecting water, air, wildlife habitat and recreation opportunities over maximizing the amount of land available for drilling and mining.

SLV Ecosystem Council (SLVEC) strongly opposes Senator Lee’s proposal to sell off public lands especially through legislative shortcuts like budget reconciliation. This process evades public input, environmental review, and accountability—threatening public access and betrays the public’s trust.

If the “public lands sell off” language does end up in the Senate version; the bill will then go back to the House, so it is important that these CO congressman know that we are telling them to vote no on the Reconciliation Bill until the “sell off of public lands” language is taken out.

1. Congressman Jeff Crank (R-05) CO, (202)-225-4422, https://crank.house.gov/contact/email-me 

2. Congressman Gabe Evans (R-08), (202)-225-5625 https://gabeevans.house.gov/address_authentication?form=/contact/email-me 

Also, Congressman Jeff Hurd has said publicly that he is against the sale of public lands in the bill and did a joint press release with Congressman Neguese.

Our federal congressional delegation representing us here in Colorado have all been firmly outspoken against the sale of public lands; but it’s important now for Senators from other states to hear from us; to make sure that they are also on board to remove any public lands sale language from the reconciliation bill. Also, if you have friends or family in these other states, please encourage them to contact their representatives.

The following Senators can become allies and are listening:

• Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kansas), Phone: (202) 224-6521, https://www.moran.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/e-mail-jerry

• Senator Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina), Phone: (202) 224-6342 https://www.tillis.senate.gov/ 

• Senator John Curtis (R-Utah), Phone: (202) 224-5251, https://www.curtis.senate.gov/share-your-opinion/ (state residents only)

• Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Phone: (202)-224-6665 https://www.murkowski.senate.gov/contact/email 

• Senator Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana), Phone: (504) 838-0130

  https://www.cassidy.senate.gov/contact/get-in-touch/ 

• Senator James Lankford (R-Oklahoma), Phone: (202) 224-5754 https://www.lankford.senate.gov/contact/email/ 

• Senator Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota), (202) 224-2043 

  https://www.cramer.senate.gov/contact/contact-kevin 

• Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Phone: (202) 224-3744 https://www.grassley.senate.gov/contact/questions-and-comments 

Congressman Jeff Hurd introduces bill

1. Continual pressure on Hurd, phone calls and website comments:

https://hurd.house.gov/address_authentication?form=/contact/email-me 

Cathy Garcia, Pueblo Office: Phone: (719) 696-6968 

Hurd introduced the Productive Public Lands Act (H.R. 1997). During his campaign, Hurd stated, “decisions should be made by local communities.” Unfortunately, H.R. 1997 would undermine this core principle by imposing a top-down mandate that disregards years—often decades—of careful, locally driven planning and collaborative input.

The Colorado Resource Management Plans (RMPs) that his bill seeks to rescind were the result of extensive public engagement and consensus-building. These plans were developed with broad input from local land managers, cooperating agencies, county governments, ranchers, conservationists, hunters and anglers, recreation advocates, the oil and gas industry, and the local communities near these lands. Notably, no county or cooperating agency filed a protest against the final plans—nor did the oil and gas industry—demonstrating these plans are well balanced and serve a variety of interests as written. https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1997/text 

In attempting to override multiple use management with the single use of oil and gas development, this proposal fails to consider practicalities around industry interest and economics. Therefore, rather than leading to an expansion of gas production on western Colorado’s public lands, this bill would only increase speculation and reduce certainty for other market sectors.

Hurd’s direction to rescind and revise the Big Game and Gunnison Sage Grouse RMP (Resource Management Plan) Amendments would also waste substantial public investment, including state-led efforts and litigation that sought to align federal management with Colorado’s own policies and regulations to streamline decision-making. Without the updated RMPA, management of Gunnison Sage Grouse would revert back to the guidance of 11 separate BLM unit RMPs, some updated last in the early 1990s, effectively managing lands decades in reverse.

Urge Hurd to amend H.R. 1997 to remove all of the Colorado Resource Management Plans from this legislation. Doing so will support the balanced, locally driven decisions that constituents and other Coloradans have worked so hard to achieve.

The “Fix Our Forest Act” S. 1462, passed in the House and supported by Congressman Hurd,  fast-tracks large-scale logging—including in mature and old-growth forests—by gutting core environmental laws like NEPA and the Endangered Species Act. It expands industry loopholes, blocks public oversight, and allows commercial logging under vague “emergency” declarations, even when no true emergency exists. This bill is touted as a wildfire safety bill; but we know that real wildfire safety begins in communities, not miles away in wildlands.

Yet this bill provides no funding for home hardening, defensible space, or community preparedness—only more logging. Senator Hickenlooper is supporting this bill, though he has made changes; but make no mistake, this is a Timber industry bill.

As you may have already heard, in conjunction with all these public land attacks mentioned above, on June 23, Secretary of Agriculture Rollins announced that the USDA is rescinding the 2001 Roadless Rule. It took hundreds of groups, thousands of activists, and 1.6 million public comments to get the Roadless Rule established in 2001. Though Colorado has its own Roadless Rule, and will be more difficult to undermine, this assault is another example of making it easier to privatize our public lands.

Stay tuned, we are in for a bumpy ride.