Sen. Lee announces changes to controversial public lands sale budget bill provision

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Sen. Mike Lee announced changes to his controversial public lands sale provision in the “big beautiful” budget bill, that U.S. Forest Service Lands would no longer be included, and that Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land eligibility would be reduced.

Lee made the announcement Monday in a post on X.

Lee stressed previously that public land sold would go towards building family housing, something he echoed in the post. “Housing prices are crushing families and keeping young Americans from living where they grew up. We need to change that,” he wrote.

This announcement comes after Lee defended the provision but indicated that changes were coming. At the time, he said that only lands managed by U.S. Forest Service within two miles of a population center would be available for sale, but that has changed to where no Forest Service land is up for sale.

In the changes Lee announced Monday, only land managed by BLM within five miles of a population center would be made available for sale.

Lee’s post also said that they would establish “freedom zones” to make sure the lands “benefit American families,” though “freedom zones” are not mentioned in existing versions of the bill, so it’s not entirely clear what he is referring to.

He stated that he wants to protect farmers, ranchers, and recreational users. “They come first,” he said in the post.

“Yes, the Byrd Rule limits what can go in the reconciliation bill, but I’m doing everything I can to support President Trump and move this forward,” Lee wrote, referencing a rule that dictates what can be included in budget bill reconciliation. The Byrd Rule prohibits the “inclusion of extraneous matter in reconciliation legislation,” which essentially means that provisions in budget bills can only deal with fiscal or monetary matters.

At a summit of Western state governors Monday, governors had mixed reactions to the provision. New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham expressed concerns about the provision due to the close relationship between residents and the land. Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon voiced support–with conditions.

Lee’s post does not address several major aspects of the Energy and Resources section of the budget bill that have also been controversial. In the text, cabinet secretaries who oversee the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service would be required to sell between 0.5% and 0.75% of federal land, or between 2 million and 3 million acres. Presumably, this requirement for the U.S. Forest Service will be removed, but it is unclear if the same requirement will stand for BLM.

The Secretary of the Interior would also be required to sell at least four oil and gas leases in each of the following states: Alaska, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Wyoming, and there is no information on if this will change with the additional updates.