Over 18 million acres of Utah’s public land are eligible to be put up for sale under legislation proposed by Sen. Mike Lee.
The eligible land features trails, grazing areas and even some of the state’s most popular ski areas.
Lee, the chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, released an updated draft of the bill over the weekend that calls for the mandatory sale of Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service Land. If passed, the legislation would require 3 million acres of public land to be sold — chosen from a pool of 258 million acres across 11 Western states, including Utah — over the next five years.
The Utah land that could potentially be sold under the bill covers popular hiking trails, ski resorts and backcountry ski areas in the Wasatch Front — including in Big Cottonwood Canyon, Little Cottonwood Canyon, Mill Creek Canyon and Parleys Canyon— according to a map released by The Wilderness Society, a nonprofit land conservation group.
(Christopher Cherrington | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Both National Forest and Bureau of Land Management land surrounding Utah’s ‘Mighty 5′ national parks — Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef and Zion — are marked eligible for sale, the map shows. Lands within the national parks’ boundaries are not eligible for sale under the proposal.
Grand County in southeastern Utah encompasses Arches National Park and parts of Canyonlands. County Commissioner Trish Hedin said in a statement Tuesday that she is “deeply concerned that Republicans’ attempts to sell off protected public lands puts these irreplaceable places, and countless others like it across the West, at risk.”
“I am deeply discouraged as a citizen and representative of Utah that our own Mike Lee is at the root of these amendments,” she continued.
Also included in the vulnerable swaths of land are parts of several of Utah’s popular ski resorts — namely Alta, Brighton, Solitude and Snowbird, which operate under “special use permits” on National Forest lands, according to Ski Utah.
Representatives for Alta, Brighton and Solitude had not responded to requests for comment as of Wednesday morning.
“As a U.S. Forest Service special use permittee that also operates on private land at the resort,” said Jacob Marquardt, communications and social media specialist for Snowbird, “we are watching this legislation carefully to understand what impacts it might have on recreation and the environment of Little Cottonwood Canyon and surrounding areas.”
The updated version of the legislation, which could be included in President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” substantially increases the amount of land that could be sold off by making public land used for grazing eligible.
Michael Carroll, BLM campaign director for The Wilderness Society, said the most recent version of Lee’s proposal “shows very clearly where Senator Lee and his allies’ allegiances lie, and that’s in their desire and ideology to push for the sale of federal public lands, regardless of who those lands benefit.”
“Not only are they trying to sell off administratively designated and protected areas,” Carroll continued, “but now they’re saying, ‘you know what, we’re going to put the grazing lands, the lands that ranching communities have depended on to graze their cattle for years, on the table.’”
(Jessica Schreifels | The Salt Lake Tribune) Corona Arch trail near Moab, Utah.
With that change, lands that include popular trails near Moab that are also under grazing permits — like Corona Arch Trail and the Mill Creek Trail — could be eligible for sale.
“In Utah and the West, public lands are the envy of the country,” said Travis Hammill, the D.C. director for the environmental nonprofit Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. “But Senator Lee is willing to sacrifice the places where people recreate, where they hunt and fish, and where they make a living — to pay for tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy.”
Uncertainty over grazing land
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee’s updated legislation runs counter to Lee’s past support for grazing on public land.
But the committee may be changing their proposal — again.
“Senator Lee greatly respects and understands the vital connection between public lands and the livelihoods of hardworking ranching families,” said Jordan Roberts, communications director for the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, in a statement Tuesday afternoon.
The committee, he continued, “is currently finalizing updated text for the reconciliation package that specifically addresses these concerns to ensure that grazing uses are protected and supported.”
ValJay Rigby, president of the Utah Farm Bureau Federation, said in a Tuesday statement that the bureau “supports the transfer of public lands from federal management to state and local governments.”
“However, any lands transferred should continue to be administered under multiple-use management principles, including the protection of grazing rights for livestock,” he added, adding the group “oppose[s] any retirement of grazing permits.”
Other Utah lawmakers, too, have said they oppose conservation measures on public lands because of potential impacts on ranchers.
Rep. Celeste Maloy said earlier this year that a conservation regulation “threaten[ed] the livelihoods of Utahns who have used the land for ranching, grazing, and more for generations.”
Maloy also introduced an amendment to the “big, beautiful bill” last month that proposed selling public land in Utah and Nevada for affordable housing. After considerable pushback, her provision ultimately didn’t make it into the version of the bill that passed the House.
