BOULDER, Colo. — One of the controversial proposals within the One Big Beautiful Bill Act moving through the federal government was the idea to sell public lands throughout the American West. The provision has since been entirely removed from the Senate budget reconciliation bill.
But, how did we get here?
"A lot of really quick turnarounds and timelines to keep up with the ever-changing proposals and legislation that's trying to get passed along with this budget reconciliation bill," said Peter Horgan, the GIS Advocacy Manager at Outdoor Alliance. "It's a lot to keep track of."
Outdoor Alliance is a coalition of different organizations that represent groups who utilize public lands, such as climbers, bikers, skiers, and surfers. Horgan supports their policy team through maps that help bring legislation to life.
Along with a team, Horgan produced a map showing what public lands were at stake under the original proposal within the large piece of federal legislation. It showed where the parcels of land were across 11 states in the West, excluding Montana. The map highlighted millions of acres of land — which, at that time, included both U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land.
That map from Horgan and Outdoor Alliance, along with one created by The Wilderness Society, took off on social media.
"It was definitely shock and awe, seeing that first map, and I think that's what made it go viral so quickly, and it spread like wildfire," Horgan said. "We've got people very engaged, and it's all over the internet. It's pretty impressive."
The map depicted land that could be potentially nominated and made available for sale, according to Horgan.
The map from Outdoor Alliance was posted on June 17. The following week, the proposal regarding public land sales was removed as part of the Byrd Bath process, a policy review that intends to keep non-budgetary items out of reconciliation bills.
The provision was revised by Senator Mike Lee, a Republican from Utah, who spearheaded the public land sales proposal. His new idea was regarding BLM land within five miles of population centers.
"This is purposed for housing, to address a housing shortage. And there absolutely, 100%, is a housing crisis in the country, for sure, and that seems to be the justification for selling off public land is to address the housing crisis and create more inventory to build on," Horgan explained. "They could be potentially built for affordable housing? We're not sure. This could be another very, like, upscale neighborhood with a golf course? Perhaps, we just don't know."
Congressman Jeff Hurd is a Republican representing Colorado's 3rd Congressional District. Hurd told Denver7 he is opposed to public land sales where decisions about land in his district are made by the federal government.
"I was actually the only Republican to vote against the land sale package in the House Natural Resources Committee. I was proud of that vote. I just didn't feel like it was the right thing for my district, or it wasn't good policy," Hurd said about the initial proposal that involved both the Forest Service and BLM. "Fundamentally, decisions about land in Colorado should be made by those who live here in the 3rd Congressional District."
Hurd told Denver7 last week he was still concerned by the reduced version of the public land sales provision.
"There's already a process for federal land sales. If we're going to be talking about this, let's go through that regular process," said Hurd. "I don't understand why legislators from other districts are trying to force this decision on the people of the 3rd Congressional District."
Hurd explained that with a reconciliation bill, the number of votes needed to pass the legislation is lowered. However, that lower threshold of votes means the bill must have an impact on the budget.
"The Byrd Rule is a rule that makes sure that what we're doing in this reconciliation process does just that. It has a budgetary impact. It's not just a policy impact," Hurd said. "The Byrd Rule, when applied to these public land sales, is looking at, is this more of a policy issue, or is this more of a budgetary issue? And I think what we've seen is that the Byrd Rule has resulted in these public land sale provisions being removed from the legislation because they are not primarily a budgetary tool. They're a policy tool."
Before the provision was entirely removed from the budget reconciliation bill, Hurd said legislators ought to be focused on campaign promises — not public land sales.
"When we were running for office, we focused on securing the border, keeping taxes low, making sure that families in Colorado have the money that they need to pay for groceries, to pay for their gas, to pay for their mortgages," Hurd said. "If we're going to deliver on President Trump's agenda and make sure that we do all the great things that we campaigned on, it would be better if this bill did not include that public land sale provision."
On Saturday evening, Lee posted a statement on X, saying that "because of the strict constraints of the budget reconciliation process, I was unable to secure clear, enforceable safeguards to guarantee that these lands would be sold only to American families... For that reason, I've made the decision to withdraw the federal land sales provision from the bill."
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) June 29, 2025
"These are lands that are open to everyone, and as soon as they're gone, we're not getting them back in this fight," Horgan said. "This has been a fight for decades. This has been going on a long time, and we continue to see wins."
While Hurd said the federal government has been focused on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, he is eager to work on a piece of legislation he introduced in March, called the Productive Public Lands Act.
"The Productive Public Lands bill is not a public land sale bill. It's a bill that would reduce and remove some bad Biden-era land restriction policies on our public lands," Hurd explained. "The Biden administration implemented some so called resource management plans that would restrict the use, that multiple use, and make it harder to use our public lands. It would have locked up our public lands."
The legislation will be in front of the House Natural Resources Committee, of which Hurd is a member, and he hopes to see it there sooner rather than later for its first hearing.
"Natural gas production energy is a core issue. Making sure that we support jobs in western and southern Colorado. We keep those energy costs low. It's an issue not just for energy families, but also bad energy policy is a hidden tax that every single Coloradan pays from not just your electricity bill, but to your groceries, to the gas that you fill up in your car," said Hurd. "Bad energy policy effectively raises the cost of everything in our economy, and so this Productive Public Lands Act, in part, makes sure that we have the ability to produce energy and keep those costs low for families across Colorado and across our country."
Hurd said his bill primarily impacts BLM land.
On Monday, the Senate began their "vote-a-rama" on the massive budget reconciliation bill.
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