U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto says part of the ‘big beautiful bill’ making federal lands available for sale is ‘shortsighted.’
"It is clear they're trying to sell this public land to pay for this reconciliation package that gives tax cuts to billions, that's what this is about. But it's shortsighted. The outdoor recreation economy in this country is billions of dollars."
Senator Cortez Masto said Nevada alone takes in more than $8 billion a year from outdoor recreation and it helps support 50,000 jobs.
She also said she's doubtful an effort by Utah Senator Mike Lee to submit changes to the Senate bill will be successful, after the Senate Parliamentarian took out the section of the bill that would make federal lands available for sale.
Republicans who support this sale say it will allow for the development of more housing but Senator Cortez Masto said she disputes that.
In Nevada, the majority of land up for debate is remote wildland and far from population centers.
ORIGINAL STORY:
A new public lands amendment was stopped in its tracks on the Senate floor in Washington D.C.
If you thought the noise for selling federal public land was over, guess again. House lawmakers removed the public lands portion from the "Big Beautiful Bill" last month.
Republican Utah Senator Mike Lee introduced legislative text to the Senate's Reconciliation Bill earlier this month.
This week, Senator Lee's provisions were removed from the bill, but there are still efforts to get something passed.
There was a protest located outside the Bruce R. Thompson Building Tuesday morning, centered around the public lands amendment.
When the amendment was initially put in, it was looking to allow the sale of 0.5% to 0.75% of Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service Land. This is estimated to be millions of acres of land.
It included 11 states, one of those being Nevada.
The Republicans who support this sale it benefits developing more housing; but in Nevada, the majority of land up for debate is remote wildland far from population centers.
Multiple agencies in the Tahoe Basin want to stress the message that "Tahoe is not for sale."
"I mean, these are incredibly important pieces of land that lock in to the conservation of the entire basin and it helps balance out the existing development," said Jeff Cowen, Public Information Officer with the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.
However, the Senate Parliamentarian removed the public lands portion from the bill stating it violated chamber rules.
Senator Lee posted on X that he was still going to fight for it.
He said he would be willing to make changes such as removing the Forest Service lands from the bill. This would exempt the Tahoe Basin from the sale.
The senator also said he wants to significantly reduce the amount of BLM land used, narrowing it down to land within five miles of population centers.
He also said he wants to protect to the Byrd Rule which means it needs 60 votes to pass out of the Senate rather than 51.
Senator Jacky Rosen sent us a statement sharing her thoughts:
"I'm glad to see the Senate Parliamentarian has excluded the misguided provision proposed by Senator Lee, which would be terrible for Nevada. Senator Lee's proposal would've opened the door for millions of acres of public lands to be sold, hurting Nevada's outdoor recreation economy and its small businesses.
I will never support any proposal that sells off our public lands while cutting out key stakeholders and local community input, and taking away millions of dollars from Nevada, all so that Republicans in Washington can give more tax cuts to billionaires. If Senate Republicans push to include future versions of this terrible plan in their extreme tax spending bill, I'll fight to block it every time."
We reached out to the BLM for comment and they said they do not comment on pending legislation.
