Public commenter warns 'Project 25' would sell federal public lands to pay for reconciliation package

At a hearing of the Energy and Natural Resources: Senate Committee, a public commenter warned that a proposal referred to as "Project 25" would lead to the sale of federal public lands to help pay for a reconciliation package that the commenter said would deliver tax cuts to billionaires.

The commenter's statement centered on the permanence of land transfers and the local impacts of converting public lands to private, industrial use. "Once these lands go into private hands, we will not get them back," the public commenter said, adding that the sales would harm recreational and subsistence uses: "Those rivers like the Pecos that you fish in, not anymore." The commenter described a specific parcel of Bureau of Land Management land near Lander, saying it was "1 to 3 miles from Lander" and had been sold and turned into an industrial project, preventing continued family use.

The commenter framed the sales as part of a broader plan to "defund, dismantle, and then divest" public lands, and said local governments and constituents had urged members of Congress to stop the proposed sales. "My phones and my emails have been lit up by this," the commenter said, and urged senators — specifically naming Mike Lee — to "pay attention to what people are saying here." The commenter also invoked tribal concerns: "This is something that America's tribal nations understand."

The remarks repeatedly emphasized the cultural and non-economic value of public lands. "They have value well beyond what can be placed on a balance sheet," the commenter said, and called any sale of public land to fund tax changes "a non start." The speaker characterized the plan as an initial move that could lead to further sales: "This is just the camel's though underneath the tent to sell more public land. They do it once, they can do it again."

The transcript shows these remarks were delivered during public comment; there is no record in the transcript of committee action or a vote on the matter. The Bureau of Land Management is the federal agency named by the commenter; the transcript also referenced "Project 25" and a reconciliation package but did not specify legislation, bill numbers, or committee motions related to those items.