.png&w=3840&q=75)
{html:
• Original 3.3-million-acre fire-sale? Dead. The Senate parliamentarian tossed it on June 24 (axios.com)
• New twist: Sen. Mike Lee just rewrote the plan to auction 0.25 – 0.5 % of BLM land—roughly 600 k – 1.2 M acres—but only if it sits within five miles of a “population center.” (axios.com, outdooralliance.org)
• Lee calls these tracts “unused, garden-variety federal parcels for potential disposal—nothing more.” (aspenpublicradio.org)
• Bowhunter-icon Cameron Hanes isn’t having it: “Not. One. Acre.” — <a href=\https://www.instagram.com/p/DLYAd7vBqme/?utm_source=tkcgroup\ target=\_blank\ rel=\noopener noreferrer\>Cam's Instagram Reel</a>
1. Why this matters even more than the first fight
Our first post broke down how the megabill tried to dump millions of acres and hard-wire mandatory oil-and-gas leasing. That sell-off died, but the new draft aims straight at the front-yard trailheads and climbing crags many of us hit after work. By capping sales to land inside a five-mile ring around towns, the bill targets exactly the places most Westerners rely on for quick escapes.
2. What’s in the slimmed-down draft
Provision Old version (blocked) New version (pending) Acreage for sale 3.3 million acres (0.5 – 0.75 % of BLM + Forest Service) 0.25 – 0.5 % of BLM only → ≈ 600 k – 1.2 M acres Location filter Anywhere in 11 Western states Must be ≤ 5 mi from a “population center” (undefined) Forests & wilderness Included Explicitly excluded
Outdoor Alliance’s GIS pass shows the eligible map lighting up recreation hot-spots from Moab’s Porcupine Rim to Colorado’s Lunch Loops (outdooralliance.org).
3. Spin vs. reality
Lee’s pitch: “unused, garden-variety parcels,” nothing special.
Reality check: Those same ‘garden-variety’ patches hold trail systems, climbing routes, and the only open space many small-town kids can reach on a bike. Hunters and anglers call them crucial transition habitat.
Enter Cameron Hanes—ultra-runner, bowhunter, and public-lands megaphone—blasting the proposal across his feed with one drum-beat: “Not. One. Acre.” (instagram.com) His reels already top 30 k likes apiece, and the Senate phone lines are melting.
4. Status on the Hill
Parliamentarian’s second review: Early July. She’ll decide whether the 5-mile tweak stays in the budget bill.
Mandatory fossil-fuel leasing provisions? Still lurking, untouched.
Plan B in the House: Hard-liners there can always bolt the bigger 3 M-acre sell-off back on in conference.
5. What you can do (again)
Call both senators. New talking point: this version aims at “back-yard” public lands.
Share Hanes’ reel or this post with #NotOneAcre.
Watch for comment periods on any lease-sale Environmental Assessments headed for your local BLM field office.
}Bottom line: The acreage shrank, the danger moved closer to home. Keep the pressure on—because losing the places we play every day hurts more than losing someplace we’ve only seen on a postcard.