Bad news for Mike Lee, good news for you
The sun is looking mighty hot, Icarus.
Perhaps you’ve already gotten the news and analysis on the latest for Mike Lee and the public land sale — if that’s the case, don’t skip this newsletter. I’ve got bonus good news later!
Last week, I looked to the skies, reading the flight of birds and following the course of the sun in its hot march across the sky. From my auguring of feathered and celestial bodies, I made a prediction — Mike Lee, the senior Senator from Utah, was clueless to public opinion as he charged ahead with his ill-planned and unpopular public land sale and doomed to fail.
As I hopefully predicted last week, Mike Lee’s wax wings have melted and he is plunging straight into the sea — though he hasn’t crashed yet. I don’t think that my prediction was particularly insightful; anyone with the same evidence and a positive disposition could probably have come to this conclusion. What I did not predict was just how hot the sun would get for Mike. In case you missed it, here is what happened earlier this week:
Late Monday night, Mike Lee announced that he was caving to public opinion and changing the text of his provision to sell public lands. This long-awaited development was covered broadly, but here is my favorite headline: Mike Lee Flails As His Public Land Sale Triggers Firestorm.
As you can see in his post to X Monday night, Mike Lee also suffered a defeat at the hands of the Senate Parliamentarian. The Byrd Rule prevents provisions from being included in reconciliation that don’t pertain specifically too the budget — thus preventing policy measures (like a dramatic sell-off of American’s cherished landscapes) from avoiding the filibuster and requiring only a 51 vote majority to pass. The TLDR? Public land sales in their previous form got booted from reconciliation.
These are significant wins for public lands protectors like you and me — but it isn’t total victory. Mike Lee has already revised and reduced his amendment, trying again to shove it through with reconciliation. Through the changes outlined above, Lee is trying to make the provision more palatable to both the public and the Senate Parliamentarian.
It won’t work. We will continue flooding the phone lines with opposition to this measure. Our message to Mike Lee and the rest of Congress is simple: the American people don’t want to see a single acre of public land sold. The Senate could vote on the reconciliation package as early as the day this newsletter comes out — keep calling until it happens.
Here’s the Senate Capitol switchboard number: (202) 224-3121. Call and ask for your senator to be connected.
In addition to the near-success of public pressure on Capitol Hill, there have been positive developments for public lands across the country.
Earlier this week, The Conservation Fund announced that it has purchased the Trail Ridge site and accompanying mineral rights, ending a long effort by conservationists to prevent a deep earth mine at the edge of the Okefenokee Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. A favorite landscape of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the Okefenokee Refuge protects a rare habitat across a half-million acre expanse of Georgia and Florida, with the majority being designated Wilderness. In recent months, it has been rare to hear of a problematic mine being prevented, so this is especially welcome news.
Do you remember DOGE? With everything that has transpired over the last five months, it seems like stories of Elon Musk tossing the sink at federal employees, property, and programs are in the distant past. Luckily, many of his cuts haven’t stuck — such as an attempt to close important NPS offices in Utah. The HQ for the Southeast Utah Group in Moab is the administrative hub for Canyonlands and Arches National Parks, plus Hovenweep and Natural Bridges National Monuments. The Moab headquarters were just one NPS office targeted for termination — the Southeast Archeology Center is still in danger, and I wrote a template letter that you can copy and send to Congress demanding it stay open.
As always, public lands news is moving at a break-neck pace. I remain committed to keeping you encouraged by bringing you the wins you may have missed.
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Keep making noise for our public lands.
—Will