Protect Our Public Lands!

As one of the millions of community members that cherish our nation’s public lands, I am deeply concerned by the massive sell-off amendment introduced by the Senate to the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act as well as proposals that mandate increased onshore drilling on public lands and funding cuts of the National Park Service by $267 million. The Senate-introduced sell-off of up to 1.2 million acres of public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management threatens to forever bar access to beloved places in our backyard. With no public process and no exceptions made for recreational areas, critical habitat, and areas of critical environmental concern, the places and the public’s access to them could be lost forever. The United States’ public lands help drive the nation’s powerful outdoor economy, which, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis of the U.S. Department of Commerce, generated $1.2 trillion in economic impact in 2023. This value is one-and-a-half times the size of the economic impact from gas development and mining in the same year. The health of these ecosystems, the benefits these landscapes bring to local economies, and the public’s right to access them should not be jeopardized by short-sighted efforts to expand the nation’s already dominant energy production and balance our budget sheet. Public lands provide benefits to the American public that transcend monetary value. They are important to our mental well-being and provide places we go to recreate, whether it is to hike, camp, or stargaze. Public lands are also crucial to combatting the global biodiversity and climate crises. They play a role in nature-based climate solutions by acting as carbon sinks and are strongholds for the ecosystems we rely on. In the California desert, our national monuments and other public lands represent the best hope for iconic but at-risk species like the western Joshua tree and Mojave desert tortoise, and help store 10% of the state’s carbon. I strongly oppose any sell-off of public lands, expedited onshore drilling leases, and cuts to land management agencies through budget reconciliation. Public lands are held in trust by the federal government for the benefit of the community – any action to change this relationship defies the will of the people. Thank you for your time and for protecting our beautiful public lands.