Senate Parliamentarian Nixes Sale of Public Lands Including Otero County BLM Lands

A proposal to sell off federal public lands which included land in Otero County controlled by the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service was nixed by the Senate Parliamentarian.

The propoal 3,200 square miles of federal lands has been ruled out of Republicans’ big tax and spending cut bill after the Senate parliamentarian determined the proposal by Senate Energy Chairman Mike Lee would violate the chamber’s rules.The proposal received a mixed reception Monday from the governors of Western states which met for the Western Governors Conference.

Western Governors Conference Chair and Democratic New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham called it problematic in her state because of the close relationship residents have with public lands.

Republican Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon voiced qualified support. “On a piece-by-piece basis ... we can actually allow for some responsible growth in areas with communities that are landlocked at this point,” he said at a meeting of the Western Governors’ Association in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Lee, a Utah Republican, had proposed selling millions of acres (8.300 square kilometers) of public lands in the West to states or other entities for use as housing or infrastructure. The plan would revive a longtime ambition of Western conservatives to cede lands to local control after a similar proposal failed in the House earlier this year.

Lee’s plan has revealed sharp disagreement among Republicans who support wholesale transfers of federal property to spur development and generate revenue, and other lawmakers — including GOP senators in Montana and Idaho — who are staunchly opposed.

MacDonough, the Senate parliamentarian, also ruled out a host of other Republican-led provisions Monday night, including construction of a mining road in Alaska and changes to speed permitting of oil and gas leases on federal lands.

While the parliamentarian’s rulings are advisory, they are rarely, if ever, ignored. Lawmakers are using a budget reconciliation process to bypass the Senate filibuster to pass President Donald Trump’s tax-cut package by a self-imposed July 4 deadline.

New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich, the top Democrat on the energy committee, said Lee’s plan would exclude Americans from places where they fish, hunt and camp.

“I don’t think it’s clear that we would even get substantial housing as a result of this,” Heinrich said earlier this month. “What I know would happen is people would lose access to places they know and care about and that drive our Western economies.”

More News from Alamogordo

• Alamogordo County Commission, City of Alamogordo Joint Session Alamogordo County Commission, City of Alamogordo Joint Session
• Anastasia Martin Appointed to First Judicial District Court Governor appointment