[UPDATE] This Map Shows The 250+ Million Acres of Public Land that Could Be Sold Under New Bill

Editor's Note:Since this article was first published, the Senate has amended the original version of this legislation to allow to sale of federal lands under grazing permits. That changed added over 130 million acres to the original total. So, the original estimation we published was 120 million acres, but it’s now exceeding 250 million.

A total of 250 million acres could be available for sale underthe Senate’s version of the budget reconciliation bill, according to new analysis by the Wilderness Society.

The public lands advocacy group published a map and table detailing all the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service land thatcouldbe subject for disposal in 11 states. The map does not include all BLM and Forest Service land in those states because the bill describes a variety of exclusions. It is also unlikely that all 250 million acres will be sold or disposed of.

However, the map still paints a striking picture of the millions of acres that would be eligible for disposal, most of which is not around major cities and would not be suitable for “local housing needs,” as the bill’s authors suggest. It's also important to understand that the bill does require between two and three million acres to be sold over the next five years, all of which will come from the green and orange areas below.

The public land sale provision was included in the so-called “one, big, beautiful bill” by Utah Senator Mike Lee during a session of the Senate Energy and Natural Resource Committee. The bill requires and fast-tracks the sale of between 0.5-0.75% of BLM and Forest Service land in 11 states, but it also includes a variety of exclusions. According to the bill, these lands cannot be sold:

• National Monument
• National Recreation Area
• A component of the National Wilderness Preservation System
• A component of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System
• A component of the National Trails System
• A National Conservation Area
• A unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System
• A unit of the National Fish Hatchery System
• A unit of the National Park System
• A National Preserve
• A National Seashore or National Lakeshore
• A National Historic Site
• A National Memorial
• A National Battlefield, National Battlefield Park, National Battlefield Site, or National Military Park
• A National Historical Park

In addition, the bill excludes lands that are subject to mining claims, mineral leases, or rights of way.

These exclusions incorporate millions of acres, but there are still millions more that could be disposed of.

The bill states that land managers are supposed to prioritize parcels that are suitable for housing, but it adds a number of loopholes that would allow officials to sell any of the acres identified on the map above.

For example, the bill requires officials to prioritize lands that are nominated by a state or local government, are adjacent to developed areas, have access to existing infrastructure, and are suitable for residential housing. But at the bottom of that list, it also adds lands that would “reduce checkerboard land patterns” or “are isolated tracts that are inefficient to manage.”

The bill does not explain what it means by “isolated” or “inefficient,” which would give officials latitude to sell virtually any acreage that is not one of the above designations or operating under an existing lease or permit.

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