The letter below will be sent to your representatives. You will have an opportunity to customize it.
As your constituent, I am writing to express my deep concern about steps by Congress and the Trump administration to turn our public lands over to private commercial interests and environmental polluters and to weaken existing conservation and wildlife protection efforts on these lands.
I am particularly concerned that Senate Republicans have unveiled a bill that relies heavily on selling public lands to fund President Trump’s agenda. The provision in question mandates the disposal of between 2 million and 3 million acres of lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service across 11 states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. Wilderness Study Areas, Areas of Critical Environmental Concern, roadless areas, and critical habitat are eligible for sale.
The proposed bill would allow for more than 250 million acres of public lands to be sold to “any interested party.” Public lands should not be sold to fund tax cuts for billionaires.
I also urge you to stop the senseless purge by the Department of the Interior of the dedicated employees who manage our public lands. At a time when visitations are at record levels, parks and other public lands are already facing serious staffing shortages, which is compromising essential services such as maintenance, educational programs, and scientific research.
Our country’s public lands belong to all of us. I am urging you to protect all public lands, including our national forests, parks, wilderness areas, and monuments for current and future generations.
Explore this map to see the hundreds of millions of acres of public lands that would be eligible for sale in the latest Senate bill.
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
Our country’s public lands belong to all of us. Protecting our national forests, parks, wilderness areas, and monuments should be a priority for current and future generations.
However, Congress and the Trump administration are taking steps to turn our public lands over to private commercial interests and environmental polluters. They have promised to open vast swaths of public lands up to housing, oil and gas, mining, and ranching interests, and are ending rules to protect wildlife and improve conservation efforts.
The most recent attempt is being made by Senate Republicans, who have proposed a bill that relies heavily on selling public lands to fund President Trump’s agenda. The bill includes a provision that will make more than 250 million acres of public lands eligible for sale. It also mandates oil lease sales in the Arctic Refuge and the construction of a mining road through a national park, while more than doubling the amount of logging in western national forests.
This sale of public lands is being used to pay for tax cuts for billionaires. This is immoral.
Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum has even argued that the United States should leverage public lands to creditors to lower interest rates. This means that companies, including foreign companies, could own a stake in our public lands.
In preparation for this new vision, Secretary Burgum is gutting the workforce of those responsible for maintaining our public lands, resulting in the closure of visitor centers, canceling of park activities, growing maintenance backlogs, and a reduction in law enforcement and firefighting capabilities.
Make your voice heard now before it is too late. Tell your Congressional representative that you support public lands and the employees who care for them.
