A Republican push to sell public lands in the West is reigniting a political fight

Many of the communities near sale locations share a common theme: Their expansion is hemmed in by federal property, which makes up 80% of the land in Nevada and 63% in Utah. Some states in the Midwest and East have 1% or less federal land by comparison.

Public parcels often are interspersed with private holdings in a “checkerboard” fashion that further complicates development efforts.

Housing advocates caution that federal land is not universally suitable for affordable housing. Generally, the farther away the land is from cities and towns the more infrastructure is required — roads, sewage, public transportation.

“It’s a costly way to go because of the infrastructure needs, because of the time it will take,” said Vicki Been of the Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy at New York University. “I’m not saying that there’s no place on federal lands that would make sense, but one has to really look carefully.”

The Republican proposal seeks to identify suitable lands in coordination with local municipalities. That has left some concerned there aren’t enough assurances that the land, or enough land, will end up going to affordable housing.

“The devils in the details,” said Tara Rollins, executive director of the Utah Housing Coalition. “It could just be a land grab. There just needs to be a lot of checks and balances.”

A failed lawsuit to wrest control

The wholesale transfer of federal lands to local or private entities is something many western conservatives have long sought. Republican officials in Utah last year filed a lawsuit last seeking to take over huge swathes of federal land in the state, but they were rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court. Twelve other states backed Utah’s bid.

There also are strong voices within the GOP against public land sales, notably Montana lawmakers Rep. Ryan Zinke, who was interior secretary in Trump’s first term, and Sen. Steve Daines. Colorado Rep. Jeff Hurd was the lone Republican on the Natural Resources Committee to vote against the lands provision.

The legislation would sell about 10,000 acres (4050 hectares) of land in two Utah counties. Maloy said it avoids areas that should be conserved and would help ease demand for housing and water, by creating space to build new homes and expand reservoir capacity.

Smaller land sales are a common practice for the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management.

“Not all federal lands have the same value,” Maloy said. “In both Democratic and Republican administrations, for decades, we’ve been disposing of appropriate lands in a manner that’s consistent with what I propose to do here.”