{"id":141,"date":"2025-06-26T11:50:34","date_gmt":"2025-06-26T11:50:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sleepystork.com\/?p=141"},"modified":"2025-07-03T10:13:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T10:13:13","slug":"public-land-back-on-and-back-off-the-chopping-block-needs-our-continued-support-opinion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sleepystork.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/26\/public-land-back-on-and-back-off-the-chopping-block-needs-our-continued-support-opinion\/","title":{"rendered":"Public land, back on and back off the chopping block, needs our continued support (Opinion)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The radical notion of selling off public lands came back as part of the 2026 budget reconciliation. And this time it seems that only the Congressional rule keepers can keep the giveaway of America\u2019s heritage to private interests — off the chopping block.<\/a> Congress could have, too, if its representatives had listened to widespread public sentiment.<\/p>\n

Last week, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee updated its budget bill to include making over 250 million acres of public lands in 11 western states eligible for disposal,\u00a0including recreation areas, wilderness study areas, inventoried roadless areas, critical wildlife habitat and big game migration corridors, according to analysis by The Wilderness Society.<\/p>\n

At the same time, Trump\u2019s Interior Department is aggressively pursuing ways\u00a0to industrialize, privatize and monetize the public lands. But these places, rich with ecological values, are held in trust for us to conserve and deliver intact to future generations.<\/p>\n

Despite the administration\u2019s rhetoric about wanting to reduce the deficit, its goal is to dispose of these lands — to remove them permanently from the public domain. This serves an ideology that reflexively favors private ownership over public enjoyment, whether by diminishing long-term protections on public lands, promoting their immediate development or selling them outright.<\/p>\n

What are the effects of this wrongheaded policy?<\/p>\n

First, once it’s gone, it’s gone forever. Any land pulled out of the public domain for development will never be returned. As\u00a0a result, wild places will no longer offer open space for people to hike, hunt or fish, wildlife to thrive, waterways to flow unimpeded and much more.<\/p>\n

Second, it’s a slippery slope. We lose environmental protections not by a one-time tsunami of destruction,\u00a0but by nibbles. If we lose a piece of land today for an appealing idea (for example, deficit\u00a0reduction, space for housing),\u00a0then tomorrow we will hear an equally appealing idea to develop the neighboring piece. Then the next day, even more land will be needed for another reason. And so on. The process of destruction by nibbling will never end until there is nothing left to devour.<\/p>\n

Third, there\u2019s one upside: It\u2019s an excellent opportunity for conservationists to expand public support for nature. The current attack on public land is enabling conservationists of different stripes to come together and build alliances. Think of hunters and fishers, farmers and ranchers, mountain bikers and horseback riders, campers and birders who all cherish open lands–whatever their politics.<\/p>\n

Fourth, we need to make the case for urgency. If public land advocates don’t stand strong now to protect nature, who will? Right now, we need to defend the water, the trees, and the wildlife on the public lands for generations to come. We need to tell our representatives in Congress that their duty is to never sell out the public estate.<\/p>\n

Fifth, standing up for nature brings out the best of humanity. The framing of the \u201cdebate\u201d in Congress and the public is always human-centric, the same approach that has caused so much environmental\u00a0destruction throughout the world. Ignored is what would be lost, from water storage and wetlands to places for wildlife to live out their lives. We must tell the story of what nature brings us just by being left alone.<\/p>\n

Compared to most developed countries, America is extraordinarily rich in public lands that everyone can enjoy, no matter their income or their background. Thanks to those who came before us who knew their value, Congress set aside these unique places as designated wilderness, national parks and monuments, and other special types of land, not to mention national forests and Bureau of Land Management lands that serve multiple purposes. That means all of us can roam land that has no fences or \u201cNo Trespassing\u201d signs.<\/p>\n