This story was updated at 4:28 p.m. EDT.
Top Democrats and public lands advocates were aghast Wednesday over the news that Republicans have been discussing selling federal lands to help pay for their bill to advance President Donald Trump’s agenda.
The discussions, reported by POLITICO’s E&E News, come as the GOP is hunting for ways to pay for their reconciliation bill, which seeks to boost energy production, cut taxes and provide additional support to the southern border. The bill will likely carry a multitrillion-dollar price tag, meaning Republicans need to find offsets for the cost.
Republicans said that talks were still tentative and may only involve small parcels around National Parks or Western cities. The chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), described it as a “rounding error.”
Nevertheless, Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), the ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, hammered Republicans for even considering public lands sales, saying he was worried about potential lost chances at fishing, hunting and camping.
“For weeks, the Trump administration has covertly laid the foundation to sell off Americans’ public lands to fund tax handouts for billionaire donors,” Heinrich said. “Now, Republicans’ plans are out in the open.”
For good measure, Heinrich on Wednesday peppered a Trump nominee for the Department of the Interior over the discussions.
Despite the outraged reaction from Democrats, it remains unclear just how firm or ambitious Republican plans are on the matter. Westerman has suggested any sales would likely be used to promote housing. And some Western Republicans say they are staunchly opposed to any public lands sales.
The U.S. owns and controls about 640 million acres of land — roughly 30 percent of the country — leading to frequent turf wars among the government, states and industry. But public ownership also ensures public access, a top priority for outdoor recreationists, hunters, anglers and conservationists.
‘Once they’re developed, they’re gone’
On Wednesday, many Democrats — and even some Republicans — joined the pile-on against selling federal lands.
“Terrible idea, these lands belong to the American people,” said Sen. Angus King of Maine, an Independent who caucuses with Democrats and sits on ENR. “We have no excuse for selling them, giving them away, privatizing. No.”
Republicans have proposed selling plots of public lands near so-called gateway communities and around major urban areas in the West to build affordable housing, among other proposals. But King said that would likely be untenable.
“Who decides? I mean, there are cases where there can be land swaps — we’ve done that in Maine — that make sense in a particular, narrow case,” King said. “But a broader idea of selling public lands, I’m absolutely against.”
Another senior ENR member, Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), gave his thumbs down. “I’m opposed to the sale of public lands,” Daines said.
“It’s just an issue they try to stir up in Montana all the time and it’s fear-mongering. I’ve been one of the greatest champions of public lands in the United States Senate in decades.”
Montana has historically opposed public land transfers, and approving a land selloff in the state could prove politically costly. The issue reared its head in the state’s senate race last year, when former Democratic Sen. Jon Tester accused Republican challenger Tim Sheehy of calling for land transfers in the past.
Daines noted the political potency of the issue but also suggested there was room for compromise. He noted that “if we have a housing constraint, … we have to look at them at least.”
Nevertheless, he said the Senate should approach housing on a bipartisan basis and not be part of the Republicans’ reconciliation package.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), the ENR chair, noted the housing proposal during Wednesday’s hearing for Interior deputy secretary nominee Katharine MacGregor.
Lee asked MacGregor whether public lands could be legally used to build housing. MacGregor said that she believes it could.
Public lands advocacy groups and individual businesses sounded off about the discussed sales Wednesday.
“Selling them off cannot be an option in the budget process, full stop,” said Jordan Schreiber, government relations director at the Wilderness Society.
“We’ve already seen this administration fire thousands of park rangers and other staff, weakening the agencies that are entrusted with managing our national parks, forests, wildlife refuges and other special places, and this is part of the same larger effort to end the institution of public lands as we know it.”
And Patagonia, the outdoor retailer, said in a statement, “We cannot allow this to happen.”
“Priceless public lands are not assets on a balance sheet,” CEO Ryan Gellert said. “They support the $1.2 trillion outdoor recreation industry and five million jobs. Once they’re developed, they’re gone.”
