The chronic plan to sell off the West (here Nevada and Utah)is revived to help balance the budget. And they're just "considering" doing something nice like a field of quonset huts in the high desert for...

SNIPPEE
The land sale provision put forward by Republican Reps. Mark Amodei of Nevada and Celeste Maloy of Utah would sell thousands of acres of public lands in the two states, and calls for some of the parcels to be considered for affordable housing projects.

Colorado Republican Rep. Jeff Hurd voted against the provision and Rep. Joe Neguse , D-Colo., called it “deeply irresponsible.”

“Public lands shouldn’t have a price tag on them. But (President) Donald Trump and his allies in Congress are working like mad to hand over our public lands to billionaires and corporate polluters to drill, mine and log with the bare minimum oversight or accountability,” said Athan Manuel, director of Sierra Club’s Lands Protection Program. The lands potentially for sale “belong to all Americans. They shouldn’t be given away to pad corporate bottom lines,” Manuel said.

WATCH: ‘We’ve got to get’ big bill of tax breaks and spending cuts done, Johnson says

The sales were approved as the Natural Resources committee voted 26-17 to advance legislation that would allow increased leasing of public lands for drilling, mining and logging while clearing the path for more development by speeding up government approvals. Royalty rates paid by companies to extract oil, gas and coal would be cut, reversing former Democratic President Joe Biden’s attempts to curb fossil fuels to help address climate change SNIPPOR

pbs.org - Republican tax cut plan would authorize sale of public lands in nevada and utah