Report: Public Lands Sale Will Destroy Endangered Species Habitat, Protected Landscapes

625 square miles of BLM land could be lost forever to help pay for Billionaire tax cuts

An analysis conducted by the Center for Biological Diversity finds that the Trump administration’s plans to sell off 400,000 acres of public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management includes 500 separate areas deemed worthy of protection by the agency itself. Areas within the potential sale include national monuments, protected waterways, and critical habitat for endangered species.

According to a report in Bloomberg Law, following up on the Department of the Interior’s announcement last month that it would like to sell (or maybe give away?) public lands under the transparently false guise of building affordable housing, the agency is looking at disposing of 400,000 acres of BLM land.

“The agencies are looking at all federal lands that could be used for housing within a radius of up to 10 miles of all cities and towns with a population greater than 5,000 people,” Reports Bloomberg, based on an interview with the acting director of BLM.

BLM manages 245 million acres of public land, mostly west of the Mississippi. It’s common rhetoric amongst Republican politicians to refer to BLM land as “unappropriated,” or “underused,” or similar, but in fact the agency is responsible for producing $252.1 billion in total economic output each year (2023 numbers), directly supporting 949,000 jobs, and distributed $578.8 million directly to county treasuries across the United States in Payments in Lieu of Taxes, all on a budget of $1.6 billion.

BLM land is managed for multiple use and sustained yield—a system which sees resource extraction balanced with the needs of both recreational users and the environment. Industries that rely on BLM land include outdoor recreation, renewable energy, mining, oil and gas, livestock grazing, coal, and timber.

And while 400,000 acres may not sound like a huge chunk of 245 million (or the 640 million total acres of federally-managed public land), our public lands are a finite resource. Every acre lost is lost forever.

Now, the Center for Biological Diversity has mapped all BLM land that falls within 10 miles of any city with a population of 5,000 people or greater.

You can view the interactive map at this link.

Comparing those areas with critical habitats, conservation areas, and protected waterways reveals that a lot of sensitive, important areas may be impacted by the plan.

“Trump’s ham-fisted plan could destroy some of America’s most treasured places and imperiled wildlife habitat so fat cat developers can build malls, McMansions and data centers,” explains Randi Spivak, public lands policy director at CBD. “It’s appalling that the Trump administration wants to steal these public lands from the public, and even more galling that these billionaires think people will stand for it. No one voted to have their favorite campsite paved over and rare animals driven to extinction.”

I’ve previously explained why public lands are unsuitable to the construction of affordable housing, and the lies Secretaries of the Interior and Housing and Urban Development, Doug Burgum and Scott Turner, are using to conceal plans to develop our public lands for commercial use.

Why don’t you take a look through the map, and call out in comments the areas you see targeted for development that will most impact your enjoyment of the outdoors, or uniquely damage the environment.

Wes Siler is your guide to leading a more exciting life outdoors. Upgrading to a paid subscription supports independent journalism and gives you personal access to his expertise and network, which he’ll use to help you plan trips, purchase gear, and solve problems. You can read more about what he’s doing on Substack through this link.