Jun 24, 2025
— Public lands liquidation pulled after intense public pressure —
The America the Beautiful for All Coalition has been closely tracking the budget reconciliation process to understand how it will impact our priorities to save nature, uphold public health, and support justice for communities.
In May, House Republicans capitulated to political pressure from the White House to pass a massive spending plan that cuts health care and safety net programs while exploding the nation’s debt to deliver tax cuts to billionaires. While ostensibly a spending and tax bill, the House-approved bill eviscerates protections for air, land and water.
Now, the bill is being considered by the U.S. Senate, where stricter procedures could help remove some of the worst parts of the bill, and lawmakers have set a July 4th deadline to try and get the legislation passed.
“This proposal sacrifices the health, safety, and stability of working-class families to solely benefit polluters and the ultra-wealthy at a time when the United States is grappling with rising inflation, ecosystem degradation, unprecedented climate disasters, and persistent gaps in healthcare access. It abandons our clean energy future, undermines public health protections, and exacerbates the inequities that the working-class communities struggle to overcome every day,” said Mark Magaña, Founding President and CEO of GreenLatinos, and America The Beautiful For All Coalition Co-Chair. But he closed by saying Americans can still push on the Senate to curb the House’s excesses.
There have been two major attempts so far to liquidate public lands. The final House version of the bill omitted a controversial amendment sponsored by GOP Reps. Mark Amodei of Nevada and Celeste Maloy of Utah. Their proposal would have allowed for public land sales in four Nevada counties and one in Utah — including lands near Zion National Park. Several House and Senate Republicans, including Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke, had complained about language that would sell or swap hundreds of thousands of acres in Utah and Nevada.
On the Senate side, Senator MIke Lee of Utah introduced a broader public lands sell off provision that would have liquidated millions of acres. As we noted above, the stricter procedures of the Senate resulted in it being dropped, however Lee is saying he will be reintroducing another public lands sell off provision and take another run at liquidation.
Here’s the top 5 ways the House sold out nature and the environment in their budget bill:
Let’s polluters ‘pay-to-pollute' and skip permitting and engagement with communities prior to starting harmful projects like drilling and mining, essentially gutting the National Environmental Policy Act and Endangered Species Act,
Requires the government to open our coasts and oceans to drillers to help raise money to pay for billionaire tax cuts,
Repealing clean energy and community investments from the Inflation Reduction Act that are helping communities adapt to climate change, lowering energy costs, and creating sustainable jobs,
Opens the Arctic and public lands to drilling, logging and mining,
Suspends the methane pollution fee that polluters pay, endangering the health of frontline communities by increasing their exposure to harmful air.
This blog will be updated as events arise. Media may contact us for more information.
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June 7 Update: See our comprehensive resource packet with a timeline, and rundown of proposed cuts by issue area.
June 24 Update: Adds in events from the Senate that resulted in the public lands sell off provision being ejected, at least for now.
