Wyoming Hunters Say They’ll Oppose Public Land Sales, No Matter What

There is no revision or new version of a proposal to sell federal public land that hunters and anglers will find acceptable, some Wyoming outdoor enthusiasts said Wednesday as a scaled-down Senate version of a controversial bill to do that is in the works. 

“There’s no way we could ever feel comfortable about this,” said Chris Steffen of Green River, director of operations for the Muley Fanatic Foundation. 

“The only way I feel good is if it’s completely removed and doesn’t come back,” he told Cowboy State Daily. 

U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, attempted to roll a proposal to sell off U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management parcels into the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. 

But Elizabeth MacDonough, the Senate’s parliamentarian, ruled that Lee’s original text couldn’t be included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act because it didn’t fit into the act’s strict focus on taxes, spending and debt, according to Senate rules.

Lee announced that he's working on a revised version, although the text of that hadn’t been released as of Wednesday. 

There’s No Change That Will Work For Hunters

Outdoorsman Owen Miller lives in northeast Wyoming and has hunted on public land all over Wyoming and other Western states. 

He told Cowboy State Daily that he’s given the land sales proposal fair consideration, including having a face-to-face conversation with Wyoming Republican Congresswoman Harriet Hageman. 

Hageman voiced support for Lee’s original proposal, and argued that it had been widely misrepresented and misinterpreted. 

Miller said his misgivings remain, and he doesn’t think any revisions to Lee’s proposal will change that. 

“I think it’s opening to door to, ‘We got this (public land) and it went OK. So we’re just going to keep selling public land,’” he said. “That’s what I’m afraid of.

“My theory is that if we give them an inch, they’ll take a foot. Or maybe a mile.”

Avid hunter, angler and Wyoming legislator Rep. Karlee Provenza, D-Laramie, said efforts to revive the federal land sales proposal represent a fundamental disconnect between some policymakers and hunters. 

“I think Lee missed the point. The point is, he can’t sell off our public lands,” she told Cowboy State Daily. 

Provenza previously stated that Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon and Hageman are “partners in the public lands grab.” 

Hunters Value ‘Urban’ Parcels Too

Lee and his supporters have argued that the federal land sales would focus on small parcels, either in or adjacent to towns and cities, that could be used to build affordable housing. 

Miller said that he and other hunters use such parcels. 

He noted that there are some parcels of federal land scattered between towns in the Fort Collins, Colorado, area that are great for deer hunting. 

“The thing is, we need those parcels too,” he said. “If you’ve ever hunted urban bucks, those urban deer, you know there are some really big bucks in there.

“They are saying we don’t utilize those lands. Sportsmen are using those lands, whether they we think we do or not.”

The Fight Goes On

Provenza said that regardless of what happens with Lee’s proposal, she thinks the fight is far from over. 

Attempts to sell off federal lands in the West are nothing new, Provenza said, and she expects Lee and others who favor that idea to keep trying. 

“Mike Lee’s not going to quit, and neither are we. We need to show up and tell our delegation that our public lands aren’t for sale. Not now, not ever,” she said.

Steffen agreed. 

“I think, absolutely, we need to keep fighting,” he said. 

Lee apparently doesn’t understand the extent of opposition to federal land sales, because he’s characterized his opponents as “left-wing,” Steffan added. 

That’s not true, he said. 

“This is an across-the-board pushback — from the left, right and center,” Steffan said.

Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.