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UP FOR SALE
Hidden among the dense pages of a federal budget reconciliation package is a provision that could dramatically alter the map of the American outdoors: the proposed privatisation of millions of acres of federally managed public land.
On the surface, the provision seems aimed at solving a genuine issue: rural housing shortages. But critics argue that it risks setting a dangerous precedent. By authorising the sale of 0.5 % to 0.75 % of Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management( BLM) land across 11 western states— including Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Idaho, and Alaska— the legislation threatens to strip public access to trails, wilderness, and recreational lands that millions depend on for adventure, subsistence, and spiritual retreat.
Though the lands targeted for potential sale are not part of the National Park system or designated wilderness areas, they make up a huge portion of what most Americans simply consider“ the wild.” From dispersed camping sites in Nevada’ s Great Basin to the winding gravel backroads of southern Utah, these lands are the arteries of outdoor life in the U. S.
Backcountry Discovery Routes( BDR), a nonprofit that develops and preserves off-road riding trails, has raised the alarm. For BDR, this isn’ t a distant policy issue— it’ s existential. Their meticulously mapped routes, cherished by adventure motorcyclists across the country, and the world, cross many of the lands now on the chopping block.
In a recent statement, BDR made its position clear: the legislation, while cloaked in the language of economic
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