Public lands are one of our country\u2019s great equalizers. It doesn\u2019t matter how much money you have — a billionaire and a bus driver both get the same access to our parks, deserts, rivers and forests. Each one of us owns these lands together. They are literally America\u2019s common ground.<\/p>\n
Like so many Americans, I\u2019ve built a life around public lands — exploring them, defending them, and working to ensure they remain open to all. From my early days in Montana to leading the Bureau of Land Management and now as president of The Wilderness Society, I\u2019ve seen what these places mean to people. And I\u2019ve never seen a threat to them as serious and shocking as the one we face right now.<\/p>\n
For weeks, there have been indications that the Republican-controlled Congress was going to sell off chunks<\/a> of this priceless shared heritage to pay for tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy. Not too long ago, that would have been an unthinkable idea. Surely, Congress or the administration wouldn\u2019t sacrifice prime wildlife habitat, access to favorite places, lands along a quiet stream or a wildlife refuge, right? Surely, they wouldn\u2019t auction this extraordinary legacy of clean air, clean water and open spaces as a one-time favor to donors and corporations?<\/p>\n But earlier this month, the Senate proved just how serious they were about it. Democrats offered an amendment that would block selling off our public lands in the budget bill. The vote failed along party lines<\/a>, with just two Republicans voting to oppose a sell-off. Those two Montana senators who supported the amendment completely understood how their constituents feel about public lands.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s not only Montanans who care. Public lands are figurative common ground, uniting people across the country. Poll after poll shows that people of all stripes support public lands and want them conserved to protect wildlife habitat and outdoor recreation areas for future generations.<\/p>\n While it is a nice proof-point to have, we don\u2019t need polling data to tell us what people\u2019s photo libraries, social media feeds, old family albums and bucket lists show us. Americans care deeply about public lands, intuitively understanding they are a national treasure.<\/p>\n These lands hold the long arc of the story of humankind, etched in petroglyphs on desert walls and handed down in the creation stories of Indigenous peoples that have stewarded them since time immemorial. Public lands are our shorthand for freedom and exhilaration. In car ads, they promise an escape from the ordinary. In books about finding ourselves, they are a proving ground for the soul. In our anthems, they bind us as one nation: \u201cThis land is your land; this land is my land.\u201d<\/p>\n