Keep Our Public Lands in Public Hands!

As an outdoor enthusiast and constituent, I am joining Seattle Parks Foundation in urging you to support the bipartisan Public Lands in Public Hands Act (H.R. 718) and prevent the sale or transfer of America’s national parks, forests, monuments and wilderness areas without congressional approval.  We need the Public Lands in Public Hands Act, which would help protect the over 640 million acres of U.S. public lands and waters that are essential to keeping our air and water clean and our unique ecosystems healthy.  Outdoor recreation opportunities like hiking, biking, and swimming and the beauty of our natural landscapes belong to the people. By requiring congressional approval of their transfer, this law creates a built-in safeguard to ensure everyone, by way of their elected representatives, gets a say in how they are used.  Our public lands and waters are fundamental to our nation’s history and future. We must honor that history, the legacy of hundreds of thousands of public servants who make U.S. public lands and waters great, and the right to access the beautiful nature this country has to offer.  I strongly urge you to cosponsor and support the Public Lands in Public Hands Act and to help usher it through Congress and into law as soon as possible.