Most Public Lands Are Safe — For Now

A plan to sell off hundreds of millions of acres of public land in Western states was removed from the Republican tax and spending bill, reports Lila Seidman for the Los Angeles Times.

“Late Monday, Elizabeth MacDonough, the Senate parliamentarian — who advises the government body on interpreting procedural rules — determined the proposal didn’t pass muster under the the Byrd Rule, which prevents the inclusion of provisions that are extraneous to the budget in a reconciliation bill.”

Now, an altered bill removed Forest Service land from the proposal and limits Bureau of Land Management land that would be eligible for sale to land within 5 miles of a developed area, an arrangement that still puts over 1 million acres of public land at risk. “Environmentalists and public land advocates celebrated MacDonough’s decision to reject Lee’s proposal, even as they braced for an ongoing battle.”