Nearly 22 million acres of Idaho’s public lands could be put up for sale under a portion of legislation included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

A draft released earlier this week by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee included language penned by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, that calls for the “mandatory disposal” of public lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management.

If approved, 13.2 million acres of USFS land and 8.4 million acres of BLM land would go up for sale — including the bulk of Coeur d’Alene and St. Joe National forests and lands in the northern half of the Panhandle and in southern Idaho, a map compiled by The Wilderness Society shows.

The proposal applies to up to 162 million acres of USFS land and 245 million acres of BLM land across 11 Western states.

John Robison with the Idaho Conservation League said 90% of the profit from any sale would go into the general fund of the U.S. Treasury under the proposal, while 5% could be designated for local governments to address housing needs and the remaining 5% could be used for deferred maintenance on remaining forest lands.

“Sales of public lands have no benefit to the public and should be rejected outright," Robison said.

Public lands have been retained in federal ownership since 1976 with the passing of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, which declared public lands could not be sold off unless in the interest of “maximum public benefit.”

Lee has stated the proposal will create opportunities for affordable housing developments.

According to a fact sheet put out by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which Lee chairs, there is a nationwide shortage of approximately 4 million homes and a shortage of 7 million affordable homes. 

"This extreme lack of supply and affordability, coupled with excessive federal land ownership in the West constrains economic growth and the opportunity for western communities to thrive," it reads. "Unlocking federal land for housing will develop millions of single-family homes, resulting in greater housing supply and making housing more affordable."

The federal government owns about 640 million acres of land in the United States, nearly a third of the country. The BLM owns over 245 million acres and the Forest Service owns 193 million acres. 

"Current law effectively prevents any housing from being built on this land," according to the fact sheet.

The party who buys the land must use it for housing or community development needs.

Robison added that the proposal’s passing would be most directly felt by those who hunt, fish or otherwise recreate on Idaho’s public lands.

“Everyone has a public lands story,” Robison said. “This bill would mean that our favorite trailheads, campgrounds and fishing spots would be replaced by locked gates and ‘no trespassing’ signs.”

The fact sheet offered by the ENR says otherwise: "This proposal leaves 99.25% of BLM and FS lands untouched and prioritizes disposal of lands that are suitable for development. We expect nearly all of the land to be disposed of to be within 5 miles of a population center."

Idaho Sens Jim Risch and Mike Crapo both issued statements Friday in opposition to the proposal.

“After reviewing the Senate Energy and Natural Resources reconciliation language, I do not support the proposed provision to sell public lands,” Risch said in a statement to the Idaho Statesman.

“Senator Crapo does not support the proposed language to sell public lands,” Crapo’s communications director told the Lewiston Tribune via email Friday.

The proposal comes just weeks after a similar draft proposed the sale of about 500,000 acres of public land in Nevada and Utah.

However, that language was removed after bipartisan public outcry.

“The best way to protect public lands is to make sure this objectionable language is removed as soon as possible,” Robison said. “Now is the only time we have on this.”