Public lands are our birthright. A conservation legacy passed down from generation to generation. We hunt, fish, hike, fall in love, and heal on our lands and waters. We use them to make a living or escape from the grind. That’s not just in Montana — it’s for everyone. Every single person enjoys the same rights to public lands, whether you’re from New Mexico or New York, Mississippi, or Montana.

Public lands are a key part of our heritage and a major economic engine that provides a wealth of natural resources that build and power our country. Public lands and waters support a $1.1 trillion outdoor recreation industry and 7.6 million jobs, many in rural communities that otherwise would have limited economic activity. They provide a place for low-cost grazing lands, which ensures ample and affordable meat to feed our people. Roughly 24% of domestic oil production and more than 800 mines operate on federal lands. These energy and mineral leases accounted for nearly $11 billion in royalties to federal coffers last year.

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All that is under threat from extremists on both sides of the ideological spectrum. The far Left wants to shut down public access to public land, ban American energy production and sustainable yield timber harvests, and ration access to our national parks. The far Right believes it’s unconstitutional for the federal government to own land and that it should be sold or transferred to the states.

To both I say, not on my watch. Right now, there is a poison pill attached to the Senate version of President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act that would mandate the sale of millions of acres of federally owned lands. This provision was not in the version that passed the House a couple of weeks ago, and Trump’s interior secretary told reporters that public lands sales are not on the Trump agenda.

I proudly voted for the OBBBA in the House and support Trump’s agenda. The historic tax cuts, border security, and economic benefits are huge. This is a must-pass bill. My colleagues and I have been clear in our opposition to including public lands sales in the bill. It’s bad politics, it’s bad policy, and it will tank the “big, beautiful bill” if it’s not removed.

Allow me to dispel some of the myths around the debate and make the conservative case for public lands ownership.

Myth: Selling federal lands will pay down the debt

Fact: If the U.S. government sold every acre of federal land, to include treasured and insanely expensive real estate such as Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, the entire federal estate would raise roughly $1.9 trillion. The Senate proposal targets a fraction of our public lands and is estimated at $2 billion. To suggest that a few billion dollars in public land sales would solve our $36 trillion debt is folly. Our public lands did not get us into debt, and selling them won’t get us out.

Myth: If we sell federal lands, the US will produce more oil and gas, extract more critical minerals, and increase timber harvests

Fact: Political leadership determines extraction more than anything else. And Trump is motivated to increase energy, mineral, and timber harvests. There’s no doubt about that. Furthermore, the government cannot hand-select who buys land that is put up for sale. There is nothing stopping radical environmental groups and billionaire liberal activists from buying all the land around a mine to prevent it from expanding or buying the land in the oil-rich Permian Basin to prevent oil and gas development.

Myth: We need to sell federal land to build affordable housing

Fact: First off, land is usually not the reason for inflated home costs. The major inflations in housing costs are construction materials, labor, and permitting. In areas where towns are surrounded by federal land and need to acquire more land to build, housing developments require tens of acres, not millions. And there are existing procedures to allow the disposal of lands near urban areas to facilitate housing, infrastructure, public works, and other community needs. The process is transparent, allows public comment, and weighs the best purpose of the land for the longest term. Sure, the process can be improved, but a fire sale of millions of acres is not the answer.

FIVE HOUSE REPUBLICANS BAND TOGETHER TO THREATEN MIKE LEE’S PUBLIC LANDS SALE

I share my Republican colleagues’ frustration and agree that the federal government has mismanaged our federal land and resources for decades. But I do not agree with their solution to sell public lands. Instead, the Republican Congress needs to send bills to the president’s desk to improve management of public lands; streamline energy, mineral, and forestry leases; and improve the public process for targeted disposals and swaps.

Igniting a fire sale of public lands will leave our country and lands in ashes.

Ryan Zinke represents Montana’s 1st Congressional District in the House of Representatives and served as interior secretary under President Donald Trump between 2017 and 2019.