Press Release: Outdoor Alliance rallies the outdoor community to save 500,000 acres of public land

Image: Holly Mandarich

Outdoor recreation community rallies to get 500,00 acres of public land sales removed from megabill in Congress

A massive spending bill passed the House this morning includes rollbacks on conservation and cuts to land management agencies. However, there was one big win in it for the outdoors. 

Washington, D.C. (May 22, 2025) — Following an outcry of public opposition to the idea of public-land selloffs, a massive spending bill that passed the house this morning saw proposals to sell more than 500,000 acres of public land removed from the legislation. 

Amidst meetings over the last few days with lawmakers from both sides of the aisle, there was a flurry of outreach to legislators from the outdoor community — including more than 100,000 letters to lawmakers from Outdoor Alliance — public sentiment that was crucial to the removal of those proposals.

The land sell offs, which included more than 500,000 acres of public land in Nevada and Utah, would have set a frightening precedent of using public lands to pay for government spending and tax cuts. They were introduced during a markup in the House Natural Resources Committee by Reps. Mark Amodei (R-NV) and Celeste Maloy (R-UT) with little explanation of why these particular parcels were chosen or how the sales would’ve benefited the public.

Outdoor Alliance’s GIS ran an analysis of these lands which showed they were places where people ride, climb, hike, and paddle. The outdoor recreation community responded with letters to lawmakers about their concerns, and our policy team and national coalition met with key lawmakers about the land sales and other issues in the spending package.

Unfortunately, the rest of the bill which now moves to the Senate includes some radical changes to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), including giving developers the ability to pay to expedite reviews and bypass judicial review. It cuts funding for staffing at the Park Service, for forest conservation, for old growth protections, and for conservation and restoration. And it opens up the Boundary Waters for development, among other things.

“This bill is very bad for public lands and waters. But at the same time, it’s really encouraging that a growing group of lawmakers are standing up for public lands, and that doesn’t happen without our community showing up. We can continue to make a difference as this conversation shifts to the Senate,” said Louis Geltman, Vice President of Policy and Government Relations at Outdoor Alliance.

The package goes to the Senate next, and they could take a substantially different approach than the House. That means there's still room for the outdoor community to raise its concerns about what this will mean for public lands and waters. Outdoor Alliance has established a quick-action form to help send personalized letters to their members of Congress. If lawmakers hear loud and clear that their constituents oppose public land giveaways and NEPA rollbacks, there’s a real chance to strip some of the most damaging outcomes for public lands from the bill.

To learn more, please visit www.outdooralliance.org.