This week, at nearly midnight, while most of us were asleep, Congressional House Republicans on the Natural Resources committee quietly pushed through a last-minute amendment to sell off thousands of acres of your public lands in Nevada and Utah. No public input. No debate. No explanation. And no analysis, so it wasn’t even clear how much land they were talking about.
The amendment, slipped in by Reps. Mark Amodei (NV) and Celeste Maloy (UT), requires the Interior Department to sell off national public land in Nevada and Utah. While original reporting suggested the bill would only target 11,000 acres, further analysis suggests the amendment could target 500,000 acres in total — or more. Local conservation and Indigenous leaders are rightly pushing back on the amendment.
Corruption
But wait, it gets worse.
Rep. Bruce Westerman, the guy chairing this whole charade, recently bought stock in oil, gas, and mining companies—the exact corporations that would profit if this bill passes.
From Public Domain:
Westerman was even more unique for buying shares of companies that in many cases develop resources on public lands, an area over which his committee has jurisdiction. He bought stakes in British Petroleum, ConocoPhillips, Shell, Chevron, Suncor and Canadian Natural Resources Limited in the field of oil and gas. He purchased stock in Emerson Electric Company, Siemens and Cummins — corporations that support the oil and gas supply chain. And he acquired shares in mining giants Freeport-McMoRan, BHP and Rio Tinto.
When he got called out? He claimed an advisor did it “without his knowledge” and that he’s “in the process” of selling. How convenient.
A Polluter Wishlist
Meanwhile, this same bill slashes environmental protections, lowers fees for oil and gas drilling, and lets companies buy their way to fast-tracked permits with zero public accountability. It’s a polluter wishlist wrapped in a budget bill—and they passed it with no shame.
While the Republican members sat in silence, refusing to engage in any debate, Oregon was fortunate to have Rep. Maxine Dexter present and forcefully speaking out against this anti-environment, anti-public lands, and anti-public health agenda being passed by the committee.
A Trial Balloon
Oregon’s representatives on the committee, Dexter as well as Val Hoyle, both voted against selling off public lands. But Rep. Cliff Bentz voted for it—even though the lands are in another state, and that state’s own representative opposed the sale. In congressional circles, that’s not just controversial—it’s considered bad form.
Let’s be clear: while this amendment currently targets lands in Nevada and Utah, it opens the door to the wholesale privatization of public lands anywhere in the country. This is a test balloon. If we let it fly, they’ll be coming for more.
What You Can Do (Because They’re Hoping You Don’t)
TAKE ACTION: Reach out to your legislators and tell them public lands are NOT for sale
If you want to go beyond the action form above, here are the next steps. The Senate is our best shot at stopping this disaster. Call your Senators and tell them NO to public land sales and NO to industry-written giveaways in the budget reconciliation bill.
Senator Ron Wyden
- wyden.senate.gov
- (503) 326-7525
- BlueSky: @wyden.senate.gov | Instagram: @ronwyden
Senator Jeff Merkley
- merkley.senate.gov
- (503) 326-3386
- BlueSky: @jeff-merkley.bsky.social | Instagram: @senjeffmerkley
Call your Representative, too. Especially if their name is Bentz, Westerman, Amodei, or Maloy. Let them know you’re paying attention—and that public lands are not theirs to auction off.
- bentz.house.gov
- (541) 709-2040
- Instagram: @repbentz
Spread the word. Post it. Share it. Shout it from the mountaintops they’re trying to drill into.
Public lands belong to the people
At Oregon Wild, we’ve been fighting to protect public lands for over 50 years. And we’ve seen some outrageous stuff. But this? A secretive midnight vote to sell off our public lands while the committee chair holds stock in the companies that would profit?
This is a new low.
We know our community won’t stand for it. You’ve shown up time and time again to defend wild places. Now’s the time to do it again.
Because public lands belong to the people—not politicians, not billionaires, and definitely not a bunch of fossil fuel shareholders cashing in behind closed doors.
