The sale of public lands in the Republican-led megabill has ignited controversy on both sides of the aisle, but new changes to the bill would seem to narrow how those lands could be used.
Text released last week by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee would have mandated sales to be used “solely” for housing but also to “address associated community needs.” Such language would seemingly open the lands to a wide range of uses.
But in a new draft obtained by POLITICO’s E&E News, which could undergo more changes, lands owned by the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service would now be used only for “the development of housing or to address associated infrastructure to support local housing needs.”
Whether narrowing the use of millions of acres of land would be enough to convince Republican critics remains to be seen. Montana Republicans say they oppose the sales but have not threatened to tank the final bill if such sales are included.
