Advocates fret over House GOP move on public lands

By Garrett Downs | 01/13/2025 06:39 AM EST

Republicans have long sought to transfer federally owned and protected property to the states. Many now worry they could get their way.

Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.).

House Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) claims that any transfers would be small in scope and meant to address small fixes, such as housing shortages for national park employees or communities landlocked by public lands.   Francis Chung/POLITICO

Public lands advocates and Democratic lawmakers are sounding the alarm over a recent move by House Republicans that could make it easier to sell off public lands.

The worry comes over language tucked into the House’s rules package for the 119th Congress that passed earlier this month. The GOP-authored text would not require lawmakers to account for lost revenue if lands are sold or transferred to a state, local government or tribe.

Lydia Weiss, senior director of government relations for the Wilderness Society, said the move “would effectively put the nation’s public lands on the clearance rack, and it is the logical first step in a campaign to expedite sale of those lands.”

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House Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) said such a characterization was “not accurate.” He claimed that any transfers would be small in scope and meant to address small fixes, such as housing shortages for national park employees or communities landlocked by public lands.

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