The original provision proposed as part of the federal budget bill would have required selling Forest Service and BLM public lands, including hundreds of acres in the Los Padres National Forest, for housing developments.
The original provision proposed as part of the federal budget bill would have required selling Forest Service and BLM public lands, including hundreds of acres in the Los Padres National Forest, for housing developments. Credit: Bryant Baker / Los Padres ForestWatch photo

Public lands seem to be off the chopping block after U.S. Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled that a provision mandating the sale of U.S. Forest Service and Bureau Land Management lands can not be part of a proposed budget bill. 

The provision, proposed by Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, would have made millions of acres across 11 Western states eligible for sale for housing developments, including 875,000 acres of the Los Padres National Forest.

Lee released a revised version of his proposal on Thursday that would require the BLM to sell a portion of its land only if the land is within five miles of a “population center” and is not part of a national monument or other protected area. 

The provision is part of the budget package being reviewed by the Senate known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The bill also proposes hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts to Medicaid.

Congressman Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara, opposes the bill and said it’s a “direct assault” to important resources such as public lands, Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.

“If Republicans were truly committed to solving our housing crisis, they would work with Democrats on meaningful, bipartisan solutions — not gut protections for working families and bulldoze our country’s natural heritage,” Carbajal said. “This bill will hurt Americans from all walks of life in order to reward billionaires, and for this reason, I’ll continue to oppose it.”

Under the new provision, up to 1.5 million acres of California land would be eligible for sale, including 128,000 acres across Santa Barbara, Kern, Monterey, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties.

A revised provision calls for the sale of public land if the land is within five miles of a "population center" and is not part of a national monument or other protected area.
A revised provision calls for the sale of public land if the land is within five miles of a “population center” and is not part of a national monument or other protected area. Credit: Bryant Baker / Los Padres ForestWatch photo

The BLM has a few small scattered parcels in the Sierra Madre Mountains, the Purisima Hills and the Santa Ynez Mountains without developed public access. It also manages the rocks and islands off the coast as part of the California Coastal National Monument and maintains a public access point at Point Sal, according to Jesse Pluim, public affairs specialist for the California Bureau Land Management.  

Click here for a map of BLM recreational parcels.

Bryant Baker, director of conservation and research for Los Padres ForestWatch, said he was both surprised and not surprised to see public lands be put on the chopping block as it’s something he’s come to expect from the current administration. 

“We think that this whole concept of selling federal public lands to try to ostensibly increase housing development is just an absurd concept in and of itself,” Bryant said. 

He warned that the sale of public lands for housing development could be part of future legislation. 

“It’s great that it’s stopped for now, but I would say that the threat is still there,” Bryant said. “We could still see this in another piece of legislation, and people need to take it seriously.”

USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins has announced she is rescinding the 2001 Roadless Rule, meant to protect roadless areas of national forests from road development.
USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins has announced she is rescinding the 2001 Roadless Rule, meant to protect roadless areas of national forests from road development. Credit: Bryant Baker / Los Padres ForestWatch photo

Conservationists are already facing a new concern after USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins announced that she is rescinding the 2001 Roadless Rule, which is meant to protect some U.S. Forest Service lands from road development.

Rollins said rescinding the rule will allow for road construction and timber harvest on nearly 59 million acres of the National Forest System, allowing for fire prevention and timber production. 

Of the 58.5 million acres covered by the Roadless Rule, it’s estimated that 28 million acres are in high or very high risk wildfire areas. Rescinding the rule will make it easier for crews to reduce wildfire risks, according to Rollins. 

Bryant said the rule has reduced commercial logging in national forests, prohibited clear cutting, and prevented road networks in national forests from becoming larger and unmanageable. 

“These are important areas. They are some of the wildest places that we have in the Los Padres National Forest outside of designated wilderness,” Bryant said. 

He said the end of the Roadless Rule could lead to increased timber production and commercial logging in national forests and that areas with roads are more likely to have human-caused fires. 

“That in combination with the fact that larger, more fire-resistant trees could be cut in what are currently roadless areas, along with the potential increase in ignitions, we’re setting ourselves up here for increased fire risk across the board in these areas,” Bryant said. “That could put adjacent communities at risk. It can put other areas in the forest at risk as well.”

— Noozhawk staff writer Rebecca Caraway can be reached at rcaraway@noozhawk.com.