FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Liv O’Keeffe
lokeeffe@cnps.org
California is targeted with up to 3.25 million acres at risk.
June 13, 2025, Sacramento—The nation’s largest native plant organization is sounding the alarm bell on the very real threat of massive public lands privatization in the West. This week, Senator Lee (R-UT) and his allies on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources (SENR) Committee advanced language for the Senate’s budget reconciliation package that would mandate the sell-off of up to 3.25 million acres in the western United States. The proposal calls out California as one of 11 states where the required sales would occur and sets no limits on sales by state.
If the proposal is passed, public lands across the state could be privatized without any public process for input or engagement, and those sales could be concentrated in a place like California.
“This proposal should outrage everyone, whether you’re a plant lover, an angler, or just someone who enjoys getting outdoors in your area,” said CNPS Conservation Program Director Nick Jensen. “It essentially creates a backroom process with no public input, creating a massive breach of public trust. Once these places are sold, they’re gone for good–-fences go up, access disappears, and they are lost to us all forever.”
California has more types of native plants than any other state in the U.S., and also the highest number of species at risk of extinction. Well-managed public lands are critically important to the protection of the state’s exceptional biodiversity.
The SENR Committee language casts a wide net for prospectors, creating provisions for “interested parties” and government units to nominate lands for sale to be used for housing and “any associated community needs,” without further clarification.
“This is not a drill,” said CNPS Executive Director Dr. Jun Bando. “Native plants and habitats may be on the auction block, threatening the very integrity of the ecosystems on which we all depend.”
Americans overwhelmingly support public lands protection. Recent polling shows that 85% of westerners say that issues involving clean air, clean water, wildlife, and public lands are important to them in deciding whether to support elected public officials. In recent months, California officials from both parties have expressed strong support for protection of national monuments and other public lands.
The California Native Plant Society is encouraging its members to contact their House representatives immediately, urging House members to push back on the Senate’s destructive proposal.
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