Amid fears of public land sales, Idaho Republican breaks with cohort in Congress
An Idaho Republican congressman is breaking with the rest of the state’s delegation — and much of his party — to support a bill that would prevent the sale of large tracts of public land as a means of reducing federal debt.
Rep. Mike Simpson joined the Keep Public Lands in Public Hands bill as a cosponsor Tuesday alongside Montana Republican Troy Downing. U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Montana, a former secretary of interior, introduced the bill in January with Rep. Gabe Vasquez, D-New Mexico.
The bill would prohibit the transfer of publicly accessibly parcels of federal land of at least 300 acres to non-federal entities.
“Public lands were set aside for public use, and we have a responsibility to ensure that future generations will be able to enjoy the same benefits we sometimes take for granted today,” Simpson said in a statement to the Idaho Statesman.
Simpson has been an outspoken advocate of public lands during his 14 terms in office. He notably pushed for the creation of Boulder-White Clouds wilderness areas in the 2010s.
Some Republican members of Congress have supported selling or developing swaths of public land, the vast majority of which are concentrated in the Western U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, called the possibility “a great idea,” according to Politico’s E&E News, and Republicans from Arkansas, North Dakota and Louisiana also expressed interest in the plan.
Lawmakers have been debating the budget, and while public lands aren’t explicitly on the chopping block for sale, conservation and outdoor recreation groups expressed concern about losing access.
Last week, U.S. senators rejected a budget amendment that would have banned the government from reducing the federal deficit using proceeds from public land sales. Sens. Jim Risch and Mike Crapo, both Idaho Republicans, voted to reject the amendment.
Rep. Russ Fulcher in a statement Thursday urged Congress to adopt the budget, which stands without protection for public lands. He didn’t respond to a request for comment on federal land sales, but he has been an outspoken critic of the way the federal government has conserved public lands. In February, Fulcher cosponsored a bill to repeal last year’s Bureau of Land Management rule requiring the agency to consider conservation as an eligible use of its land.
Simpson’s stance earned praise from local environmental groups. John Robison, public lands and wildlife director for the Idaho Conservation League, an environmental lobbying group, said in a news release that the representative’s cosponsorship earned him “a tip of the hat from everyone who is venturing out on public lands this weekend.”
Rob Mason, director of the Idaho chapter of conservation nonprofit The Wilderness Society, in the same news release urged the rest of Idaho’s congressional delegation to join Simpson in cosponsoring the bill.
“Access to these lands is integral to the high quality of life that we all enjoy here in Idaho,” Mason said in the news release. “Privatizing our public lands by selling them to the highest bidder would forever change the freedom that Idahoans currently have to access our public lands for recreation, work or the other numerous benefits that they provide.”
