Senate plan to sell land near Tahoe, Sacramento deemed ineligible for budget bill
The plan to put millions of acres of California forests, parks and other public federal lands at risk of being sold got a devastating, probably lethal, blow as the Senate parliamentarian ruled lawmakers could not consider the proposal as part of its “Big Beautiful Bill” this week.
Before such legislation can be considered by the Senate, Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough has to make sure what’s in it involves fiscal policy. She decided the plan to sell the land did not meet the standard.
Popular destinations near Sacramento and Lake Tahoe were on the original plan’s proposed sale list from the Wilderness Society:
▪ South Lake Tahoe’s Kiva Beach, areas near Fallen Leaf Lake and a popular lookout point above Emerald Bay.
▪ Waterfront lands at bodies of water across the Sierra Nevada: Lake Clementine, Union Valley Reservoir, French Meadows Reservoir, Loon Lake, Salt Springs Reservoir, Sly Creek Reservoir and others.
▪ Sections of the Cosumnes River Preserve, a wetland habitat and popular place for bird-watching near Galt.
Further to the southeast, vast tracts of U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management lands near Mono Lake and Mammoth Lakes are on the list, including the southern slope of Mammoth Mountain, areas next to June Lake and a portion of the Obsidian Dome.
Other potential sites include areas around Yosemite National Park, Mount Shasta and Big Sur.
Fifteen categories of land, including wilderness areas, national monuments, parks and forests would be exempt from sales.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, led the effort to sell up to 3 million acres nationwide. He vowed after the ruling to keep fighting. “Stay tuned. We’re just getting started,” he said in a post on X.
The ruling “limits what can go in (the bill) but I’m doing everything I can to support President Trump and move this forward,” Lee said.
He outlined some of the steps he plans. He said he would not be “selling off our forests,” and only land within 5 miles of population centers would be eligible for sales.
Lee proposed establishing Freedom Zones to “ensure these lands benefit American families,” and “protect our farmers, ranchers, and recreational users. They come first.”
The land for sale would have addressed “local housing needs (including housing supply and affordability) or any associated community needs,” the bill said.
Critics argue there are no measures to ensure land sales would support housing production. The bill would give Trump administration officials broad discretion to determine which lands are actually put up for sale.
“There’s no mandated public process,” said UC Davis Environmental Science and Policy Professor Mark Lubell. “There’s no strategic targeting of things. It’s being sold as trying to be something for affordable housing but as far as I’m concerned, that’s complete political grandstanding. There’s no world in which the sale of public lands is going to solve our affordable housing crisis or our energy crisis problem.”
“The value of the land varies hugely depending on where it’s located,” Lubell said. Forestland in the Sierra Nevada — particularly near Tahoe and other mountain towns — could fetch a high price for real estate development. Other land in remote desert areas may not carry much value for housing or energy development.
The bill directs some western Forest Service tracts be sold for increased timber production. But in California, “a lot of those lands are more valuable as real estate than they are for timber,” he said.
Bipartisan opposition from California lawmakers
Love for national parks and other public lands is bipartisan and widespread. A YouGov survey conducted earlier this year found more than 70% of Americans oppose selling public lands or closing national parks to save money.
The plan faced skepticism as well as outright opposition from Republicans and Democrats.
Rep. Kevin Kiley, whose district includes the Inyo sites and tracts around Lake Tahoe, said in a statement that it’s “crucial that any decisions made regarding the acquisition or disposition of public lands be made only after significant local input.”
The Roseville Republican sent statements from local officials that expressed strong reservations.
The Senate provision “would reverse 50 years of standing land policy at Tahoe. Thank you, Rep. Kiley, for fighting for our public lands,” said Julie Regan, executive director of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.
Placer County Supervisor Cindy Gustafson had qualms about the housing initiative.
“The goal of affordable housing is one we all share, but the Senate language will not make measurable progress toward that goal, and instead would put local governments on defense, responding to nominations made by outside groups that may or may not align with local planning,” she said.
And El Dorado County Supervisor Brooke Laine said “Tahoe is not for sale,” and urged the Senate to remove the provision.
In Washington, Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, an Energy and Natural Resources committee member, opposed the plan. In the House, Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Montana, was able to eliminate a provision allowing sales in some Western states.
Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., a member of the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee, vowed to fight the provision.
“Make no mistake, this latest Republican proposal is riddled with anti-environment provisions meant to create the largest public land sell off in recent memory to subsidize their tax cuts for billionaires,” he said. “If Republicans have their way, we will never get our public lands back once they are privatized.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom also opposes the bill, according to his office.
“Radical Republicans want to pimp out our public lands — selling them to the highest bidder to pay for their billionaire tax cuts. It’s a bad deal for taxpayers and California will work with our colleagues in Congress to stop it,” Newsom spokesman Daniel Villaseñor said.
Lubell, the UC Davis professor, stressed the provision is not law yet. “We will see what happens when this piece goes back to the House, if it survives or is changed. There’s a lot of opposition to it from Republican House members where there’s a lot of public lands.”
This story was originally published June 24, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Senate plan to sell land near Tahoe, Sacramento deemed ineligible for budget bill."
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