Tell Your Senators Public Lands Are Not for Sale
Public lands are America’s wild backyard. From beloved national parks like Yellowstone and Grand Teton to Acadia and Grand Canyon, they are where we spend our family vacations and create our favorite memories. We find solitude and endless recreation opportunities on public lands here in Greater Yellowstone and across the country in iconic places like the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, the Appalachian Trail, and the High Sierra. And the trail you walk daily with your dog or to catch a sunrise or sunset – these are all our public lands.
They’re our national forests, national parks, national monuments, wildlife refuges, Wilderness areas, national historic sites, national battlefields, national recreation areas, national seashores, and national trails – these are public lands that belong to all Americans.
A hiker walks through a field of wildflowers. (Photo NPS/Jacob W. Frank)
They are home to trails, glaciers, wildlife from bumblebees to bears, old growth forests, rock arches and canyons, streams that provide clean drinking water, rivers that we float and fish, and so much more.
Right now, members of Congress are working on a plan to sell off our public lands. The very lands that unite us as Americans, that pump billions of dollars into Western states’ economies, and that have been part of our heritage for generations.
We need you to tell your Senators today that our public lands are NOT for sale.
While language that directed the sale of more than 500,000 acres of public lands in Nevada and Utah was stripped from the House budget bill in May, the threat of public land sales is not over.
Utah Senator Mike Lee intends to bring back the sale of our public lands during Senate budget negotiations, which are already underway.
The Milky Way shines over the Washburn Fire Lookout in Yellowstone National Park. (Photo NPS/Jacob W. Frank)
Once large pieces of our national lands are sold to the highest bidder and developed, we will never again have access to these lands for outdoor recreation, ranching, hunting, clean water, fishing, and the family traditions treasured by millions of Americans. Not to mention the loss of habitat for healthy fish and wildlife populations we all treasure.
Once our public lands are gone, they’re gone. Our national public lands are so much more valuable than a number on a balance sheet. Email or call your Senators to tell them our public lands are not a bargaining chip – they’re not for sale today, they’re not for sale ever.
– Scott Christensen, Executive Director (Bozeman, MT)