Public Land for Sale: What to Do + How to Help
- Lily
- Jun 22, 2025
- 2 min read
Public land has been home to so many of my favorite moments. No matter how you choose to get out and enjoy it, our ability to recreate is worth protecting and right now is the time to act.
Here’s a quick summary of how public land in the West is being threatened and what you can do to help: (Written as of 6/20/2025)
Unfortunately, this is as simple as it sounds. Large plots of land that have been free to access would be sold off under the “disposal mandate”. The acreage to be sold would be selected from 250 million + acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and US Forest Service (USFS) land across 11 different states. Many of these areas contain popular trails, recreation sites, important wildlife areas, and are home to significant cultural heritage.
This alarming proposal would be rapidly paced, without time for local mapping or vetting of what areas could be privatized. The land would have to be sold within 5 years to “any interested party,” with very minimal regulations on what could be done with it.
Once this land is sold, it will be gone forever. This risk is very real, but there’s still hope!
So, how do I stop this?
The very best thing we can do is to contact our senators and make it clear we do NOT support the sale of public land. Even if your state isn’t on the chopping block, you can still contact other states' senators. Let them know you’re not a resident but share how that state’s public land is important to you or brings you there to recreate.
Helpful resources to visit:
The Wilderness society- Maps & sources:
Outdoor Alliance- email form for your representatives:
5 Calls- Find your senators phone numbers here + scripts for calling:
