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Garfield County opposes mass sale of public lands

‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ language mandates between 2.2 and 3.3 million acres be sold

PRESS RELEASE
June 24, 2025

Garfield County is submitting a letter to Senator Mike Lee (Utah) strongly opposing the sale of millions of acres of public lands under President Trump’s proposed “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” If passed with current language, the bill would mandate the sale of between 2.2 and 3.3 million acres of U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands in the West.

Roughly 62 percent of land in Garfield County is public, supporting thousands of jobs in outdoor recreation, agriculture, and resource management, among others. In the county’s roughly 3,000 square miles, the BLM manages 615,973 acres, and the USFS 515,865 acres.

“Garfield County’s public lands are a cornerstone of our identity,” the letter states. “They are places where we hunt, fish, camp, recreate, graze cattle, and develop our abundant natural resources, such as natural gas. In Colorado alone, these public lands support a booming outdoor recreation economy that generates over $60 billion annually in consumer spending nationwide and sustains thousands of jobs across our rural and urban communities. They are also vital to preserving clean air and water, which is critical in our arid west.”

Under the proposed bill, the public land may only be sold for housing or related infrastructure, but that restriction sunsets after 10 years, making any remaining land available to the highest bidder. Public lands in Montana are exempt from sale under the proposed bill.

“It deliberately places a higher value of public lands in one state over another so that we are picking winners and losers across the federal western landscape. How was this determined?” the county’s letter asks.

The county noted that selling off these lands could lead to “unchecked development and environmental degradation – without public input or oversight,” impacting the local economy, ranching operations, and our western heritage.

“To place this in shocking context for Colorado, the U.S. Forest Service manages 16 million acres, and the BLM manages 8.3 million acres,” the county’s letter reads. “‘Eligible lands’ that could be sold under the proposed bill include 9.38 million acres of USFS land and 4.96 million acres of BLM land.

“Federal lands are held in trust for the benefit of all Americans – not to be auctioned off for short-term profit or ideological gain,” the letter added.

According to a recent Headwaters Economics report, less than two percent of public lands in the West that are located near towns in need of housing are suitable for development, all of which is complicated by wildfire risks.

The Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act (FLTFA), which was signed into law 25 years ago, allows the Department of the Interior’s agencies and USFS to utilize funds from sale of BLM lands to acquire private inholdings in public lands. It also authorizes the federal government to sell small tracts of land into private ownership, helping alleviate “checkerboard” areas where public and private land meet.

Garfield County remains an advocate for multiple use on public lands through the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) but asks Sen. Lee, who also chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, to reconsider the proposed bill, which is “reckless and flies in the face of good governance.” The county’s letter was also sent to Colorado Sens. John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet, and Reps. Jeff Hurd, Joe Neguse, and Lauren Boebert.

“We urge you to reconsider this proposal and instead work to strengthen the management and protection of our public lands,” the county’s letter states. “Failure to do so, means this proposal is nothing more than a betrayal of the American people. These lands belong to all of us. They are not for sale.”

The letter was signed by Commissioners Perry Will and Mike Samson and will be ratified at the next Board of County Commissioners regular meeting on July 7.

“I’ve had many people talk to me about this and they are really not happy at all,” said Commissioner Mike Samson. “I will unequivocally state that the One Big Beautiful Bill has a lot of good things in it. It is a good bill, and it needs to pass, but there are some things in it that are not good, and this is one of them. I don’t think selling 2-3 million acres of public land is a smart thing to do.”

“I’m not for selling off public lands,” added Commissioner Perry Will. “The public lands are our lands. They don’t belong to the federal government; they belong to the people.”