This Land Is Your Land
Photo: Nick Kunath
Just past midnight on May 7th, the House Natural Resources Committee advanced a bill that places more than 500,000 acres of your public lands for sale. The parcels in question are primarily around Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada, with smaller acreages surrounding St. George in Southwest Utah. The amendment, introduced by Reps. Mark Amodei (R-NV) and Celeste Maloy (R-UT) offered little explanation of why the specific parcels were chosen or the explicit need for these sales beyond an attempt to use public lands to pay for tax cuts and additional spending.
Idaho Rivers United is speaking up for our public lands. Staff and volunteers have been working to contact Congress through phone banking, emails, and direct appeals. It is critical that the Idaho delegation support the public lands that drive our outdoor recreation economy and our Idaho way of life, which revolve around public lands and rivers.
Targeted public land transfers happen relatively frequently using existing rules; however, these sales typically are quite modest in size and often accompany additional conservation efforts, unlike this attempt to remove half a million acres from the ledger in one fell swoop.
While this effort does not directly implicate Idaho yet, it is not hard to imagine a similar attempt targeting places that are near and dear to you and your family if this provision is ultimately passed within the larger budget reconciliation process, especially considering that Idaho Rep. Fulcher voted to pass the amendment out of committee.
This threat to our public lands is very real and alarming, but we’ve been here before, and thankfully, we have some champions who are standing up to defend these invaluable resources. Representative Simpson has continued to be a leader in this space and recently joined the bipartisan Public Lands Caucus as vice-chair, focused on conserving America’s public lands.
“Idahoans live in Idaho because we love our public lands," said Rep. Simpson. "This trend is common across the West, where public lands are a part of our daily lives. As a lifelong Idahoan and Chairman of the House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, I remain committed to preserving access to our public lands and defending our way of life. Being named Vice Chair of the Public Lands Caucus is an honor, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to ensure future generations can enjoy the same benefits that we do today.”
To echo Rep. Simpson, public lands are a significant part of our daily lives and underpin the robust and important outdoor recreation economy. In Idaho alone, the Outdoor Industry Association estimates that outdoor recreation generates $7.8 billion in consumer spending annually and creates 78,000 jobs.
If you act now, there is still time to voice your concerns about this latest attempt to sell off our public lands. Call your representatives and urge them not to pass this short-sighted provision and keep public lands in public hands!
Call Sen. Crapo (208-334-1776)
Call Sen. Risch (208-342-7985)
Call Rep. Fulcher (208-888-3188)
Call Rep. Simpson (202-225-5531) to thank him for his leadership
