BLM Land Sale Proposal Threatens Carrizo Plain, Says ForestWatch
Tracy Lehr
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Los Padres ForestWatch staff members are speaking out against a controversial federal proposal that could lead to the sale of millions of acres of public land in California and beyond.
The Senate version of President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” includes a provision that would mandate the sale of up to 3 million acres of federally managed public land across 11 Western states, including California. While national parks, monuments, and wilderness areas would be excluded, large portions of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land—including areas near the Carrizo Plain in San Luis Obispo County—could be sold without public input or environmental review.
Supporters, like Utah Senator Mike Lee, argue the measure could help lower housing costs by making more land available for development. However, the bill does not require the land to be used for housing—raising concerns from conservation groups that it could be purchased for other private uses such as oil extraction or luxury development. Critics say the vague language poses significant risks to ecologically sensitive areas and could set a dangerous precedent for future federally mandated land sales.
Los Padres ForestWatch Director of Conservation and Research, Bryant Baker, has been reviewing the local impact.
“That is still about 280,000 acres of federal public land in this region — Kern County, Santa Barbara County, Ventura County, San Luis Obispo County, and Monterey County. That’s the area we focus on, and most of that is around the Carrizo Plain,” said Baker.
The Carrizo Plain, located in southeastern San Luis Obispo County, is the largest remaining native grassland in California and a biodiversity hotspot.
Baker says the nonprofit anticipated threats to public lands but nothing on this scale. He notes the proposal’s inclusion in a budget reconciliation package is a strategy to bypass the standard 60-vote threshold in the Senate and instead pass it with a simple majority.
“The reason they are trying to put it in the reconciliation bill is because in reconciliation, you just need a majority of the votes,” Baker explained.
He added that although the bill excludes national forests, it still targets all eligible BLM land—much of which has existing oil leases or limited development potential.
“They are saying we want to sell it so it can be developed — housing development is one of the main reasons. But it is all worded so vaguely that we’re not sure it would be limited to housing. And a lot of that land is not suited for housing in the first place — that’s why it wasn’t historically developed,” he said.
Baker is urging the public to take action by contacting elected officials and visiting areas like the Carrizo Plain to better understand what’s at stake.
“I think the big issue here is that this would set a precedent for Congress mandating the sale of public lands to agencies. So if it happens this time — even if it’s just BLM land in 11 different states — who knows what the next mandate will be for the sale of federal lands,” he said.
President Trump aims to sign the bill into law ahead of the Fourth of July holiday.
For a link to more information visit, https://forestwatch.org/news-publications/news/forced-land-sale-provision-stripped-from-senate-megabill
For information about the author of the lands portion of the budget bill visit https://lee.senate.gov