National Parks Traveler Podcast | Federal Lands Fire Sale

There are some in Congress who think we should have a fire sale on public lands. Places across national forests and the Bureau of Land Management that politicians think should be offered for sale, either to try to adopt President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill that would continue to offer the biggest tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans and corporations or simply because they don’t believe there should be public lands.

This legislation, sponsored by U.S. Senator Mike Lee of Utah, could be the most devastating public lands measure to come before Congress. If passed, it could dramatically reshape the West. While Interior Secretary Doug Burgum says many of the lands that could be affected are often "barren land next to highways with existing billboards that have no recreational value," many others disagree.

There’s a hew and cry across the West, that many of these lands are used by hunters and anglers, by birders and backpackers, four-wheelers and by weekend campers.

To get into the weeds of this legislation our guest this week is Mike Carroll, director of the BLM program for The Wilderness Society.