Trump team's plan to sell public lands to decrease size of federal estate draws immediate backlash

Résumé détaillé

It comes after several Western politicians attempted to divest large swathes of territory in Utah and Nevada last year

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President Donald Trump's administration wants to sell public lands to states, tribes and local governments as part of a push to "decrease the size of the federal estate," according to a new five-year strategy released by the Interior Department.

The agency said that selling federal property would allow the U.S. government to focus resources on "nationally significant" lands. No specifics were provided regarding which areas might be offered, nor the exact scale or geography of prospective sales.

The proposal quickly drew criticism from several legislators, including Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke of Montana who served as Interior Secretary during Trump's first term.

The strategy also recommends targeted land exchanges and transfers to bolster domestic energy production, a core element of the administration's pro-fossil fuel agenda. It underlines the administration's belief that public grounds are economic assets to be utilized rather than set aside for conservation.

Controlling more than 750,000 square miles (1.9 million square kilometers) — an area larger than Texas and California combined — as well as massive subterranean mineral deposits, the Interior Department remains at the center of an enduring, decades-old debate regarding whether federal land ownership is excessive.

The majority of public lands lie in Western states, where high levels of government ownership shield territory from development but can also constrain economic growth. Nevada, for instance, is nearly 80% under federal jurisdiction.

Under the proposed framework, a share of the revenue from land sales would be returned to purchasers to support environmental conservation elsewhere, Interior officials said.

However, it remains unclear whether Interior Secretary Doug Burgum can realize the administration’s objectives without legislative support from Congress.

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