I may sound like a broken record, but the fact that the outdoor community came together, put aside all our supposed differences, and stopped a massive public lands sale from being included in the "One Big, Beautiful Bill" tells me that these stories are worth it. Stories about our public lands are worth expanding and showcasing what we stand to lose if we give up and let the greedy politicians win.
And luckily for us conservation-minded public land owners, a number of great groups are banding together and building out resources that show exactly which parcels of land these politicians are aiming to sell to the highest bidder. I already told you about The Wilderness Society's awesome map detailing what we could lose due to extractive leases this week, one that should worry you as it includes a lot of great public lands, and land adjacent to amazing spots that you definitely don't want to see polluted by those industries.
But the latest is one from our friends at onX and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP) that outlines the 6 million acres that are on the chopping block through the Bureau of Land Management's normal sell-off process. One that's been supercharged due to the Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum's office.
A man who has similar beliefs about public lands as Utah Senator Mike Lee. Check out the map below and see if your favorite public lands spot is on the block.
According to the onX press release, "This spring, the outdoor recreation community was instrumental in convincing lawmakers to remove provisions from the 2025 budget reconciliation bill that would have led to large-scale public land sales. While it was a major victory, public lands can still be sold through other actions." Those other actions are through the BLM's Resource Management Plans, with public land marked as potential for "disposal," i.e. to be sold off.
"Across more than 160 planning areas, at least 6,086,900 acres are identified for potential sale in the Western United States," states onX and TRCP, adding that some of these parcels noted as potentially for sale were earmarked that way over 40 years ago. So what's changed? The Trump administration's seeming belief that it can pay down the federal deficit, spur new energy development that we don't really need, and build more housing to "solve for the housing crisis," even though the latter I've thoroughly and regularly debunked.
In reality, a lot of people in Washington (not all), don't like that this land is a public resource and that we own it. They'd rather sell it to their donors, friends, and patrons and cheat the American people out of the greatest wealth our country has ever seen. Polling reveals that public lands have an overwhelming support from the American populace, and that's across all political and ideological spectrums.
No other issue can say that.
"For the first time, the public and policymakers can engage with one map that spans most BLM planning areas, and see public land parcels eligible for sale in the context of other landmarks, like towns, roads, and adjoining public lands," says Joel Pedersen, president and CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, adding, "TRCP is proud to partner with onX to share this valuable tool that shows specific locations of land that could be considered for sale like never before."
As always, I'm urging the outdoor community—the off-roaders, the dirt bikers, the hunters and anglers, the climbers, the backpackers, and everyone else—to contact your local, state, and national representatives. Tell them that we don't support any sort of public land sales. That we think public lands are what make this country great. And that no other country has what we have, and that should be enough.
