Local group “Protect Public Land” stages demonstration in downtown San Diego, emphasizing the importance of preserving environmental policies.
By Elizabeth Sanchez / CBS8 / June 28 -29, 2025
UPDATE: Sen. Mike Lee pulled his proposal to sell public lands out of the spending bill late Saturday night before it was ultimately passed by the Senate on a 51-49 vote.
ORIGINAL STORY-
The Senate is set to hold an initial vote on President Trump’s budget bill, which includes a controversial provision for the sale of public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management. In response, a local group in San Diego staged a protest to oppose the sale of all public lands.
More than a dozen demonstrators from the group “Protect Public Land” gathered Saturday, June 28, in downtown San Diego, carrying signs and distributing fliers to raise awareness about the issue. The protesters emphasized the importance of preserving environmental policies and maintaining public access to these lands.
“This is important because conservation is a key trait of American history,” protestor Michael Williamson said. “We are trailblazers in protecting public land and the nature that’s on it.”
The revised version of the bill, proposed by Utah Senator Mike Lee, would authorize the sale of 0.25–0.5 percent of BLM-managed land in eleven states, including California. This proposal comes after an earlier plan to sell more than 3,200 square miles of federal land was removed from the GOP bill for violating Senate rules.
Protesters argue that selling any public land could have long-lasting negative consequences.
“If this public land is sold, it’s gone for good. Once this land is in the hands of private developers, gas companies, oil companies, lumber companies, there’s no going back, there’s no getting it back,” Williamson added.
Supporters of the land sale claim it would address housing availability and affordability issues by focusing on areas within five miles of population centers. However, the protesters remain unconvinced.
“We have hunters, mountain bikers, hikers, people from all over deserve equal access to land,” said Rose Williamson, another protester.
The proposed land sale is expected to raise between 10 and 20 billion dollars, depending on the acreage sold. As the Senate prepares to vote, the protesters plan to continue their efforts by contacting congressional leaders and signing petitions to stop the sale of public land.
Instead, the govt leases should be increased if what they want is money. The federal grazing fee for 2025 is $1.35 per animal unit month (AUM) for public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service. This fee has remained at this level since 2019. An AUM is the amount of forage needed to sustain one cow and her calf, one horse, or five sheep or goats for a month. The minimum amount companies can bid at auctions for federal oil and gas leases is now $10 per acre, up from $2. Annual rental rates for a competitive lease are $3 per acre for the first two years, $5 per acre for years 3 through 8, and $15 per acre each year thereafter. The USA needs open space, recreation areas, conservation of its land. No need for this now.