Governors of Western states give mixed reactions to proposed federal land sell-off

Key Points

• A budget proposal by Sen. Mike Lee would mandate the sale of more than 2 million acres of federal public lands to states or other entities as part of the GOP’s tax cut package.
• New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said selling public lands without a local process is “problematic” because residents have a strong connection to those lands.
• Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon offered qualified support, saying targeted, piece-by-piece sales could enable “responsible growth” in landlocked communities.
• The proposal would focus on “isolated parcels” for housing or infrastructure, exclude national parks and wilderness areas, and apply to land in 11 Western states (with Montana carved out).

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A Republican-sponsored proposal before Congress to mandate the sale of federal public lands received a mixed reception Monday from the governors of Western states.

A budget proposal from Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee would mandate the sale of more than 3,125 square miles (8,093 square kilometers) of federal lands to state or other entities. It was included recently in a draft provision of the GOP’s sweeping tax cut package.

At a summit Monday of Western state governors, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said the approach is problematic in New Mexico because of the close relationship residents have with those public lands.

“I'm open” to the idea, said Lujan Grisham, a second-term Democratic governor and former congresswoman. “Except here.”

“Our public lands, we have a very strong relationship with the openness, and they belong to all of us,” said Lujan Grisham, who was announcing written recommendations Monday on affordable housing strategies from the Western Governors’ Association. “And selling that to the private sector without a process, without putting New Mexicans first, is, for at least for me as a governor, going to be problematic.”

Interior Department Secretary Doug Burgum was among the leaders from several federal agencies who attended the meeting that runs through Tuesday. He has touted the many potential uses for public lands that include recreation, logging and oil and gas production, saying it could boost local economies.

Several hundred protesters in downtown Santa Fe denounced efforts that might privatize federal public lands, chanting “not for sale” and carrying signs reading “This land belongs to you and me” and “keep our public land free for future generations.”

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon voiced qualified support for plans to tap federal land for development.

“On a piece-by-piece basis where states have the opportunity to craft policies that make sense ... we can actually allow for some responsible growth in areas with communities that are landlocked at this point,” he said at a news conference outside the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe. “There may be value there.”

Lee has said federal land sales under his proposal would target “isolated parcels” that could be used for housing or infrastructure, and would not include national parks, national monuments or wilderness.

Land in 11 Western states from Alaska to New Mexico would be eligible for sale. Montana was carved out of the proposal after its lawmakers objected.

In some states, such as Utah and Nevada, the government controls the vast majority of lands, protecting them from potential exploitation but hindering growth.