Our Public Lands are Under Threat

Public lands in the United States are facing numerous threats; including potential large scale sell offs of public lands, weakening of environmental protections and increased development for resource extraction. These threats endanger vital ecosystems, wildlife habitats, and recreational access for the public. 

Senator Mike Lee (UT) and the Senate Energy and Natural Resources (SENR) Committee is attempting to sell off large swathes of our public land. His intial proposal was rejected by the Senate parliamentarian who ruled that his language did not comply with the strict rules governing measures that can be included in party-line reconciliation bills. He has since revised and narrowed his proposal to include those sales in the bill. It appears he will not stop targeting our public lands.

Senator Mike Lee (UT) has stated that, “Most western federal land is not national parks but barren scrublands and desert that that [sic] has low present value,” as if the sagebrush & creosote communities that make up most of Nevada are barren wastelands derelict of benefits to humans, plants, and other animals alike.

Nevada is home to over 2,800 plant species which support a panoply of ecologies unique to the Basin & Range province. We recognize that the #1 cause of species extinction is the loss of habitat, much of which comes from human land development; habitat loss occurs not all at once, but instead through a steady process of erasure and fragmentation. As a society, we know that an appreciation of native plants necessarily requires stewardship of the land, and once habitat is gone the communities there may never return.

We urge you to contact your representatives in congress and to express your concerns about the Budget Bill and other threats to our beloved public lands.