Housing Crisis May Call for Sale of Public Lands

JUNE 24, 2025 |

Photo – Public land potentially for sale – Courtesy Wilderness Society

As average home prices continue to rise, lawmakers are pushing for more affordable housing. Carbon County residents are concerned that a proposed initiative could lead to the sale of prized recreational land.

On June 11th, Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah introduced language into the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee’s budget reconciliation bill calling for the sale of 2 to 3 million acres of federal public land across 11 Western states, including Wyoming. Senator Lee’s measure is intended to address the national housing crisis by making federal land available for residential development.

The bill states the Secretary of the Interior, Doug Burgum, must select between 0.5 and 0.75 percent of Bureau of Land Management land for disposal. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins would also be required to choose the same amount of National Forest System land to sell. The sale would be used to address local housing needs, including house supply and affordability.

In his bill, Senator Lee writes that both federal agencies should first consider selling land nominated by state or local governments. Eligible parcels should be adjacent to existing development, have access to infrastructure, be suitable for residential housing, and help reduce checkerboard land patterns. Furthermore, the Bureau of Land Management and the National Forest System are instructed to consider selling isolated tracts of land that are difficult to manage.

The bill prohibits the sale of federally protected land, parcels subject to valid existing rights, or land not located in one of the 11 designated states.

Soon after Senator Lee’s bill was introduced, the Washington D.C.–based nonprofit The Wilderness Society released a map highlighting 250 million acres of federally managed land that could be subject to sale under the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee’s budget. The map indicates that large portions of the Sierra Madre and Snowy Range Mountains could be developed for affordable housing. Altogether, 14,940,234 acres of federal land in Wyoming are considered eligible for disposal.

Carbon County residents are voicing their disapproval on social media toward the potential federal land sale.  On Saturday, June 21st, Sheriff Alex Bakken contributed to the conversation, writing that Carbon County’s greatest asset is its vast public lands. The lands offer thousands of acres of accessible outdoor recreation for both residents and visitors. Sheriff Bakken wrote that public lands, especially the Snowy Range and Sierra Madre Mountains, significantly contribute to our region’s tourism industry.

Wyoming Congresswoman Harriet Hageman supports Senator Lee’s additions to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee’s budget reconciliation bill. In a social media post, Congresswoman Hageman wrote that the text of the bill prohibits the sale of lands with existing rights as well as federally protected lands.

During her June 19th “Weekday Wake Up” radio program, Congresswoman Hageman said that any federal land considered for sale must be located within one to five miles of a community identified as lacking affordable housing.

The Congresswoman added that building affordable housing in mountainous areas, such as the Bighorns, would be cost-prohibitive.

Congresswoman Hageman, however, did not say that the land is ineligible for sale.

The Congresswoman wrote that the recently passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act does not include the sale of any public lands.

In his social media post, Sheriff Alex Bakken encouraged the public to read the bill themselves before forming an opinion. Bigfoot99 will include a link to Senator Mike Lee’s addition to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee’s budget reconciliation bill when this story is published on our website later today. The relevant section, Subtitle C, can be found on page 30 of the document.

Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources budget reconciliation bill: C:\Users\NEW\AppData\Local\Temp\NEW25680.loc