"In June, when Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee moved to force a sell-off of up to 3.2 million acres of public land, he insisted he was solely interested in combatting America's housing crunch and that the bill only targeted "unused, garden-variety" federal parcels - not national parks, wilderness areas and other "crown jewel" lands. Few bought what Lee was trying to sell."
"On Oct. 2, Lee introduced legislation aimed at opening millions of federal acres along both U.S. borders, including national parks and wilderness areas, to road construction, timber harvest, surveillance systems and any other "tactical infrastructure" deemed necessary to protect those lands from what he describes as "environmental destruction" resulting from "the Biden Administration's open-border policies.""
"While Lee pitches the legislation as an immigration enforcement bill, it would encompass federal lands far from the U.S.-Mexico border - including a huge swath along the U.S.-Canada border. The legislation defines "covered federal land" as any federal land "located in a unit, or in a portion of a unit, or within 1 or more parcels of land that shares an exterior boundary with the southern border or northern border.""
Sen. Mike Lee pursued a plan in June to force the sale of up to 3.2 million acres of public land, framing the move as a response to a housing crunch and excluding national parks and other high-value areas. He withdrew that land-sale effort after sweeping bipartisan backlash. On Oct. 2 he introduced the Border Lands Conservation Act to open millions of federal acres along both southern and northern borders to road construction, timber harvest, surveillance systems and other tactical infrastructure, citing alleged environmental destruction from open-border policies. The bill’s broad definition of covered land could reach units far from border zones.
Read at High Country News
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