For Immediate Release: June 24, 2025
Contact: Doug Gordon | do**@***************es.com
After Bipartisan Outrage, Controversial Provision To Sell Public Lands Is Stripped From Reconciliation Package
Coalition To Protect America’s National Parks Calls Ruling From Senate Parliamentarian A Win And Commits To Keeping Up Fight To Protect Public Lands and National Parks
Late last night, the Senate Parliamentarian ruled that the highly controversial provision from Senator Mike Lee to sell off 3 million acres of public land as part of Republicans’ “One Big Beautiful Bill” violated Senate rules and had to be stripped from the bill. The ruling came after some had called the provision possibly the most unpopular part of the bill and it had generated significant blowback from both MAGA conservatives and progressive environmentalists.
Following the ruling, Emily Thompson, Executive Director of the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks, issued the following statement:
“This is a win. In our deeply divided country it seems there is little that the left and right agree on, but there was near universal outrage at this proposal to sell off 3 million acres of our public lands. We thank those both inside and outside of Congress who came together to fight back against this massively unpopular provision.
“Our public lands and our national parks need to be protected and should not be used as political pawns by our elected leaders. We will continue to track this issue and fight to protect public lands and national parks as the Reconciliation process and Appropriations process move forward.
For over a century, public lands—our national parks, forests, deserts, and rangelands—have been a defining feature of the American identity. Efforts to strip away public lands and national parks is not just bad policy. It’s a betrayal of the public trust. And we will continue the fight to protect both.”
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