What's in the Budget Bill? - Public Lands News (June 2-6)

This week, we cover a relentless wave of threats to America’s public lands and environmental protections.

But it’s not all bad news, because we wrap up with some powerful land-back victories, state park expansions, and global actions to #BeatPlasticPollution.

Key Topics This Week:

1. Senate Budget Bill Public Land Sales

• Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) moves to reinstate a provision to sell 500,000+ acres of public land in Nevada and 11,000+ acres in Utah.

• Parcels affected include land near Zion National Park, desert tortoise habitat, and lands adjacent to Las Vegas.

• No restrictions on resale — paving the way for luxury developments, mines, and strip malls.

2. What Else Is in the Budget Bill?

• Fast-tracks oil, gas, and mining projects by weakening environmental reviews.

• Opens new offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska.

• Increases national forest logging quotas and 20-year timber contracts.

• Cuts climate adaptation and restoration funding.

3. Department of the Interior (DOI) Deregulatory Blitz

• Rescinds 2024 rule protecting 13 million acres in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve.

• Appoints Kevin Pendergast as BLM Alaska State Director.

• Rolls back 18 federal energy regulations nationwide.

• Green-lights new timber, oil, gas, and mineral leases across Oregon, Utah, Nevada, and Alaska.

4. Supreme Court’s NEPA Decision (May 29)

• An 8-0 ruling limits NEPA’s scope so agencies no longer required to analyze cumulative and downstream environmental impacts.

• Case involved a proposed Utah crude oil railway; ruling sets precedent for pipelines, highways, and fossil fuel infrastructure.

👉 Call your senators before July 4th and demand they oppose public land sell-offs and environmental rollbacks in the Senate’s version of the budget bill.

👉 Follow us on Instagram (@outdoor.minimalist.book) for quick news breakdowns and action alerts.

Have tips, testimonials, or insights on public land changes? Submit them through our Google Form (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://forms.gle/JwC73G8wLvU6kedc9⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)

Resources & Action Links:

Stop the Sell-Out — Conservation Lands Foundation (https://www.conservationlands.org/stop_the_sell_out)

E&E News Coverage of Senate Land Sales Push (https://www.eenews.net/articles/mike-lee-seeks-to-reinstate-public-lands-sales-in-megabill/)

NRDC Overview of House Budget Impacts on Public Lands (https://www.nrdc.org/media/house-bill-would-destroy-public-lands-forests-and-oceans)

Supreme Court Limits NEPA — Democracy Now (https://www.democracynow.org/2025/5/30/headlines/supreme_court_sharply_limits_scope_of_landmark_environmental_law)

Yurok Tribe Land-Back Victory — AP News (https://apnews.com/article/yurok-tribe-land-back-salmon-restoration-california-57632c4170995a0067eb89dbeb080f80)

Sleeping Giant State Park Expansion (https://www.nhregister.com/connecticut/article/ct-hamden-sleeping-giant-state-park-expansion-20357085.php)

Minnesota Public Forestland Acquisition (https://www.wdio.com/front-page/top-stories/st-louis-county-to-acquire-additional-public-forest-land/)

World Environment Day 2025 — UNEP (https://www.unep.org/ietc/news/blogpost/5-june-world-environment-day-2025-beatplasticpollution)