Will Mount Baker be impacted by federal land sale proposal? Bill is unclear

BELLINGHAM – Much of the Mount Baker Highway corridor and large portions of the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, including land that the Mt. Baker Ski Area occupies, could be sold for housing development under a federal Senate budget proposal.

If passed, the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee budget reconciliation package would mandate the sale of at least 2 million acres of Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management lands in 11 Western states over the next five years. A version of the bill was approved last month in the U.S. House by a vote of 215 to 214.

National parks and national monuments are excluded from potential land sales. The bill, however, identifies more than 250 million acres of public land that would be eligible for sale, including local recreation areas, wilderness study areas, roadless areas preserved for land conservation, wildlife habitat and migration corridors.

The impacted states include Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

The Wilderness Society, which has a long history of fighting to preserve and protect lands in the United States, created a map of all public land that would be at risk of being sold if the bill passes.

“That’s a lot of land, and you see that reflected in the map,” Wilderness Society Washington Director Megan Birzell told the Herald. You see it in big chunks. … Pretty much anything that is not wilderness or North Cascades National Park is eligible for sale.”

Birzell said she hopes the map helps contextualize what is potentially at stake if the bill passes.

“People can go on the map and see, ‘Where do I go mountain biking? Where do I take the dogs and the kids on the weekend? Where do I go backcountry skiing in the winter?’ They can look for their favorite places to be outside and I think what a lot of people are going to find is that those places are eligible to be sold. That is really scary. We haven’t seen that in modern memory,” Birzell said.

A total of 5,371,690 acres of Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management land in Washington would be eligible for sale. That represents approximately 12.6% of the state’s total land area (42.6 million acres).

All efforts would be made to sell the land at “market rate,” the proposal states.

A fact sheet for the proposal says selling federal land would generate an estimated $5-$10 billion over the next 10 years to reduce the national deficit.

The proposed land sales would “develop millions of single-family homes, resulting in greater housing supply and making housing more affordable,” the fact sheet states. It also says purchased land must be used to build housing or “associated community development needs” – a term that is not specifically defined.

The fact sheet also suggests that the bill “prioritizes disposal of lands that are suitable for development.”

“We expect nearly all of the land to be disposed of to be within 5 miles of a population center,” the fact sheet says.

The bill language itself does not specify that parameter. The proposal does suggest, however, that the tracts listed for sale would be prioritized based on:

• Whether the land is first nominated for selection by a state or local government.

• The land’s proximity to existing developed areas.

• The land’s access to existing infrastructure.

• The land’s suitability for residential housing.

“Mt. Baker Ski Area has a decadeslong excellent working relationship and close partnership with the United States Forest Service, and the ski area will continue to benefit the public by providing visitors access to the mountains and meaningful experiences in our local national forest,” Trowbridge told the Herald.

The bill gives the secretary of the interior (Doug Burgum) and the secretary of agriculture (Brooke Rollins) the power to decide which land should be sold. The work to do so would also begin effective immediately, with a requirement that a list of available land tracts identified for potential sale be published within 60 days of the bill’s passage.

The total amount of acreage a single person could purchase would be limited, according to the bill.

A state or local government could be provided a “right of first refusal” to purchase the land. Birzell told the Herald that the provision is largely meaningless given Washington’s budget shortfall and the bill’s requirement to sell at market value.

“Most state and local governments lack the resources to compete in the bidding war for our national public lands,” Birzell said. “The likelihood is that these lands end up in private hands.”

Tribal rights are also largely disregarded in the bill and are not specified as one of the government entities that could receive a right of first refusal, though the bill does recommend consultation with any impacted tribes.

“They would be forced to compete in open auctions even for tracts on their traditional homelands or containing sacred sites,” Birzell said. “Areas with reserved tribal treaty rights? They are eligible for sale. They are not excluded.”

U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) denounced the proposal, calling it a “backroom deal” to sell the nation’s public lands to “fund tax cuts for the ultrawealthy.”

“This is a complete betrayal of future generations and puts beloved hiking trails, hunting spots, fishing holes, campgrounds and more at risk,” Murray said in a statement to the Herald. “Our public lands are not just places to enjoy the great outdoors, they also contribute significantly to our economy in Washington state and ensure protections for critical habitat. I will not back down on this without a fight, so here’s my message to Senate Republicans: our public lands are not for sale. Public lands belong in public hands.”

On the social media platform X, Murray said Tuesday the GOP’s “Big Ugly bill” allows for the sale of 250 million acres of public land, 5.4 million in Washington state.

“We can’t let them jam this through in secret,” she wrote. “Help me say it loud and clear for Republicans: Public lands belong in public hands.”

The proceeds from land sales would return to the general fund of the U.S. Treasury, with 5% of the gross proceeds to be distributed to the local government that would have jurisdiction over the land, according to the draft proposal.

The local government receiving those proceeds would then be required to use the funds “solely for essential infrastructure directly supporting housing development or other associated infrastructure to support local housing needs,” the bill states.

Another 5% of the sale proceeds would be required to be used for addressing the deferred maintenance backlog on BLM and National Forest System land, according to the bill.