BOISE FOOTHILLS, Idaho — Hundreds of thousands of acres of Idaho's public lands could be sold to private parties through a nomination system if a proposal in Congress moves forward. The legislation, part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, aims to sell BLM and National Forest lands across the western US.
"If this goes through, what's gonna happen is millions of acres of public land will be sold and a lot of that will be in Idaho," said Justin Hayes, Executive Director of the Idaho Conservation League.
Hayes is concerned about the future of Idaho's public lands.
"This particular proposal is about balancing the budget and finding a way to afford tax cuts for billionaires… They see public lands as a source of revenue if we sell them," Hayes said.
Utah Representative Mike Lee introduced the legislation, saying in a YouTube video that the land would be used to expand housing and support local development.
The proposal is included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a spending bill which Idaho Senator Mike Crapo is heavily involved in as Chairman of the Finance Committee.
A statement from Crapo's office said the Senator does not support transferring public lands to private ownership.
"Senator Mike Crapo has said he does not support transferring public lands to private ownership. He is reviewing details of the proposal as he considers the full reconciliation bill.
Senator Crapo is working around the clock as Chairman of the Finance Committee to prevent a more-than $4 trillion tax hike on American families and workers."
"Once these lands are sold, Idahoans are going to lose access to them forever," Hayes said.
The proposal would not impact national parks or specifically designated lands like wilderness areas or national monuments.
However, millions of acres of general use public lands across Idaho, including the Payette and Boise National Forests plus BLM lands would be eligible to be sold.
"No trespassing signs will go up, gates will be locked. You'll lose access to these areas that you have taken your family to for years and so it's really about keeping these public lands that we all treasure in public hands," Hayes said. "Now is the time that we all need to tell our senators that selling public lands is a terrible idea for Idaho."
The fate of Idaho's public lands remains uncertain as lawmakers continue to negotiate the budget package.
