American Hiking Joins 71 Organizations in Opposition to Public Lands Sell Off in Reconciliation Bill

RE: Amodei Amendment 013 to H.Con.Res.14 - Public Lands Sell Off Amendment

Dear Members of the House of Representatives,

On behalf of our members, we, the undersigned organizations, ask you to strip the Amodei Amendment 013 from the House Interior Reconciliation Bill.

The House Natural Resources Committee has now added selling off public lands that belong to all Americans to what is already a sprawling attempt to fast-track resource development for a variety of industries including oil, gas, coal, hardrock mining, and timber.

At the 11th hour, and at the end of a day-long hearing, Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV-2) and Rep. Celeste Maloy (R-UT-2) introduced an amendment, without including the maps the amendment references, that would result in the sell-off of over 11,000 acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) managed public land in Utah and 500,000 acres in Nevada. This amendment was introduced during a House Natural Resources Committee hearing on May 6th, 2025, without an opportunity for review by other members of Congress or the public. The Committee voted to allow this amendment and ultimately in favor of the entire bill.

Contrary to statements by Rep. Maloy, the language of the amendment includes no requirements for public use and no limitations on how the lands can be used once sold — meaning they may be developed for golf courses, luxury resorts, strip malls, private vacation homes, or simply flipped for sale again. Nothing is off the table. The public had no opportunity to participate in the process of identifying these parcels, let alone time to understand the long-term effect of selling off these public lands. Public lands should remain in public hands.

Parcels listed for sale in the amendment are within the following areas:

• Red Mountain Wilderness
• Beaver Dam Wash National Conservation Area
• Santa Clara River Reserve
• Santa Clara/Gunlock Area of Critical Environmental Concern
• Red Bluff Area of Critical Environmental Concern

The amendment also includes several parcels adjacent to Zion National Park, one of the most visited National Parks in the nation. The tracts proposed for sale include a 300 acre mesa outside the small town of Rockville, as well as tracts at popular trailheads.

This amendment is only the start of the push by the current administration, extractive industry, and private developers to sell off public lands across the nation. But such moves are deeply unpopular. Polling has repeatedly shown that the public—especially westerners—strongly believe in keeping public lands in public hands and, across partisan lines, reject any efforts that would lead to the sale of these shared and cherished lands. The House must reject this
misguided and wildly unpopular notion.

It is imperative that the budget reconciliation process is not used to sell off public lands.

Sincerely,
Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance
350.org
Accountable.US/Accountable.NOW
American Bird Conservancy
American Hiking Society
American Packrafting Association
Amigos De Los Rios
Appalachian Mountain Club
CactusToCloud Institute
Californians for Western Wilderness
CalWild
Center for Biological Diversity
Climate Justice Alliance
Coastal Corridor Alliance
Conservation Colorado
Conservation Lands Foundation
Conservation Northwest
Defenders of Wildlife
Earthjustice Action
EcoFlight
Endangered Species Coalition
Environmental Law & Policy Center
Environmental Protection Information Center
Environmental Center of San Diego
Forests Forever
Friends of the Amargosa Basin
Friends of the Inyo
Friends of the Lost Coast
Glen Canyon Institute
Grand Canyon Trust
Great Egg Harbor Watershed Association
GreenLatinos
Greenpeace USA
Hills For Everyone
Illinois Environmental Council
League of Conservation Voters
Minnesota Division Izaak Walton League of America
Mount Shasta Bioregional Ecology Center
Natural Resources Defense Council
Nature for All
NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
New Mexico Wild
Next 100 Coalition
Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness
Ocean Conservation Research
Oregon Natural Desert Association
Pelecanus
Resource Renewal Institute
Robert Redford Conservancy at Pitzer College
Save Our Canyons
Sheep Mountain Alliance
Sierra Business Council
Sierra Club
Silvix Resources
Soda Mountain Wilderness Council
Southern Environmental Law Center
Standing Trees
Taunton River Watershed Alliance
The Ocean Project
The SummerTree Institute
The Wilderness Society
Tuleyome
Virginia Wilderness Committee
Western Watersheds Project
Wild Hope
Wild Montana
WildEarth Guardians
Wilderness Watch
Wilderness Workshop
WWA
Wyoming Wilderness Association
Wyoming Wildlife Advocates