WildEarth Guardians

Thursday, February 2, 2017
Chaffetz Hears Massive Public Outrage, Pulls Bill to Sell Public Lands

Americans make it clear they want their lands protected, not polluted
Contact: Chris Krupp, 206-417-6363, ckrupp@wildearthguardians.org

SANTA FE, NM—After huge public lands rallies in Montana and New Mexico earlier in the week, Congressman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) announced on Instagram Wednesday night that he was withdrawing his bill to sell off 3.3 million acres of public lands in ten western states.

“People nationwide were outraged that Chaffetz wanted to sell our national heritage out from under us,” said Chris Krupp, Public Lands Guardian for WildEarth Guardians in Santa Fe, New Mexico. “Chaffetz was told in no uncertain terms ‘Keep your hands off our public lands.’ Americans of all stripes are united in that stance.”

The bill, H.R. 621, directed the Bureau of Land Management to sell “excess” public lands identified for disposal in a 1997 Interior Secretary report to Congress. That report, however, did not identify particular parcels of public land. Instead it listed the total number of parcels as well as their total acreage and estimated value for each county with public lands in the ten states. No map was included with the report or in the bill, so the public lacked any way of knowing which public lands would be scheduled for the auction block.

Chaffetz had introduced previous versions of this bill in 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2015. In a 2013 House Natural Resources Committee report, Representatives Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) and Peter DeFazio (D-OR) noted the 1997 report was vague, outdated and never even assessed whether selling the lands were in the nation’s best interests. The two representatives summed up the legislation as “simply another attempt to raid our federal lands.”  

 “Americans want clean air and water and places where they can hike, camp, hunt and fish, and they want those places protected for their children and grandchildren.” Krupp stated.  “Yet many in Congress and the Trump administration are hellbent on making it easier to drill, log, and pollute our public lands. They need to listen to the voters.”