A controversial amendment cut from Trump’s tax bill is to be reintroduced : NPR

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At the last minute, an amendment forcing federal agencies to sell public land was abandoned from the bill for the taxes and expenses of President Trump. Utah senator Mike Lee should soon reintroduce the controversial measure. He says that the federal government has too many land and at least a part should be used to build housing. And it’s a fight, as Kirk Siegler reports from NPR.

Kirk Siegler, Byline: in places like the Wood River Valley in Idaho, it is common to hear the sentence, the public ground leads to the economy. Skiers, hikers, bikers and off -road vehicles are from all over the world.

(Soundbite of the flowing river)

Siegler: In the canyons carved by the river under the canopy of cotton wood and persistent leaves, there are kilometers of trails on the land of the American forest service, like Lake Creek, where Angenie McCleary is located.

Angenie McCleary: Many people say I came to Sun Valley for a winter and I stayed for the summer, and I’m still there. And it is because of the beautiful lands that we have.

Siegler: McCleary chairs the Committee of the Comté de Blaine. His county also houses some of the western most expensive real estate. And she has trouble believing in those who say they want to sell federal land here to build affordable housing.

McCleary: I think it is much more likely that it would go in private hands for private development.

Siegler: McCleary says more housing for the workforce are seriously necessary in town and around the ski resort, not 10 miles or more outside, such as the land that has been identified for a possible sale in the amendment of Senator Mike Lee.

McCleary: I think it’s a cover to just want to attack our public lands. He tries to feed a real problem in America and a real problem in the county of Blaine, which is accommodation.

Siegler: The county of Blaine is an abnormal blue point in Red Idaho. This fight is a rare bipartite problem at the moment. The two Republican Senators of Idaho and side in Montana were a no amendment on Lee to sell public land. His office did not respond to an interview request.

The hike with her dog, Dylan Rhoades (PH), says that she and her friends posted on social networks and called their Congress member daily.

Dylan Rhoades: I’m still outside. I think it’s even the craziest thing to consider.

Siegler: Over the years, there have been sales of federal land or land exchanges or transfers to local governments for infrastructure projects. It’s just that they were really small and were not part of a major hyperpartisan bill, known as Derek Monson with the UTAH conservative reflection group, the Sutherland Institute. And he supports the sale of land, but perhaps thinks of the way they were bad.

Derek Monson: You put it in reconciliation, which is a kind of artificially accelerated process in order to force the votes, where it was billed as the bill on the Agenda of the Trump administration. Then I think people don’t want to give this team a victory.

Siegler: Last fall, the Biden administration sold small quantities of Land Management land on cheap on the verge of serious affordable housing. Monson underlines that there was no tumult. He thinks that an autonomous bill will be more pleasant to taste.

Monson: This may allow us, I hope – I suppose it is my hope – to have a more reasonable conversation on public land that are directly next to cities or sometimes inside the city limits, and what are the highest uses of these lands.

Siegler: This is an old western controversy, where the federal government often controls half or more of all land in many states. Monson expects Lee to reintroduce his real legislation plan so that he can be debated. Selling federal land and real estate is a declared objective of that of President Trump. Here is the Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins who was addressing Western governors last month.

(Soundbit of archived registration)

Brooke Rollins: Half of the land in the West belong to the federal government. Is this really the right solution for the American people?

Siegler: It is widely considered as a case law established that the American government, and not the states or the private industry, is the legitimate owner of the federal lands here. And under the Constitution, only the congress has the power to adopt laws selling federal lands. This is why Blaine County, Idaho, Commissioner Angenie McCleary is so worried at the moment. The economy of its county depends on access to public lands. And she says that the push to sell them follows the example of Doge of President Trump, who has already reduced 30% of jobs in the local Ranger forest service.

McCleary: I think it’s an attempt to erode all federal lands. I think there is a desire to sell much more for many purposes.

SIEGLER: The county of Blaine recently joined two dozen local governments in the Western states, from UTAH to California, adopting resolutions opposing the sales of federal land.

Kirk Siegler, NPR News, Boise.

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