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What public lands could be for sale in the Coachella Valley? Local conservation groups react

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PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) – Before being stripped from the Senate reconciliation bill, millions of acres of public land in California were identified as eligible for sale. This would allow private entities to purchase this land to develop housing and energy projects.

The provision, however, was found to violate the chamber's rules.

This land is primarily managed by the United States Forest Service (USFS) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The Wilderness Society provided a map, seen below, that illustrates what local public lands from the two agencies were eligible based on the bill's text.

Senator Mike Lee, the Chair of the Senate Energy Commission pushed for the federal land sale. After it was stripped from the bill, he reaffirmed that he would keep trying, and wrote in part on X:

"Housing prices are crushing families and keeping young Americans from living where they grew up. We need to change that. Thanks to YOU—the AMERICAN PEOPLE—here’s what I plan to do:

1. REMOVE ALL Forest Service land. We are NOT selling off our forests.

2. SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE the amount of BLM land in the bill. Only land WITHIN 5 MILES of population centers is eligible."

— Sen. Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee, X)

The Senator has not yet formally introduced the revision, but it could be proposed at any point. For now, local conservation groups said it's a "chance to breathe."

Local reaction to the proposal

"I would say it'll be a win when those lands are totally safe," said Colin Barrows, Co-founder of local conservation group CactusToCloud Institute.

Members of Oswit Land Trust, another local nonprofit that purchases land to protect it from "imminent development," also said the proposal was alarming.

"Ultimately, it's a big betrayal of the public. These are supposed to be public lands that were protected for the public, protected for wildlife, and they're sort of changing the rules," said David Paisley, the Deputy Director of the organization.

Oswit Land Trust has purchased several areas across the Coachella Valley in recent year, including Oswit Canyon, the Prescott Preserve, and a 600-acre area in the Indio Hills.

Staff said losing public lands would restrict access to recreation and hurt conservation efforts.

"They're out here on these lands and you can't have wildlife without habitat. You have to have both," Paisley explained.

For CactusToCloud Institute members, they encouraged the public to make their voices heard: "As far as the public lands themselves, you know, the best way for us to protect them and for us to steward them so that we get to enjoy them is to speak up for them and talk to these people in power and tell them that they're not to be messed with."

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