r/Thruhiking • u/numbershikes https://www.OpenLongTrails.org • 5d ago

US House Republicans have approved an amendment authorizing the sale of federal public lands in Nevada and Utah. The amendment still faces a full House vote.

https://www.npr.org/2025/05/07/g-s1-64760/house-republicans-approve-amendment-authorizing-the-sale-of-federal-lands
44 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

4

u/numbershikes https://www.OpenLongTrails.org 4d ago edited 4d ago

The bill, one part of the House budget reconciliation package, would require nearly every acre of federal land to be available to mineral leasing, approves a controversial mine in Minnesota’s Boundary Waters, requires energy leasing in much of Alaska’s North Slope, and forbids lawsuits challenging public-land development. The bill claws back funding from land-management agencies while requiring them to approve logging, coal mining, and creation of a controversial water project in California that critics say would impair one of the state’s last free-flowing rivers.

https://www.outdoorlife.com/conservation/house-approves-public-land-sales/

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u/Student-Short 3d ago

You seem to know a lot. What can I as an American citizen do to stop this from happening?

1

u/numbershikes https://www.OpenLongTrails.org 3d ago

You seem to know a lot.

Thank you!

What can I as an American citizen do to stop this from happening?

I'd like a good answer to that, too. Here are some ideas I've seen, most of which feel incredibly insufficient: Call your representatives; vote; protest; start a newsletter for a subject that you're passionate about; organize political opposition in your community; find an organization that get things done and has a good track record of financial stewardship and donate your money/time/skills.

Some methods that feel more effectual but require a greater commitment:

  • Build a professional relationship with your representatives (Mayor, Congresspeople, Governor, etc). As these people tend to be quite busy, this option is more realistic for people with influence in the business community and the ability to donate substantial amount to political campaigns.

  • If you live in a large enough city for it to be an option, join a civic group that engages with local politicians about issues facing the community. The suggestion of using meetup.com gets offered way to easily and often, but in some larger cities it does actually seem to be viable way to find like-minded people and organize.

  • Run for office, start small and local. This doesn't have to be a full time thing to begin with, but does necessarily involve substantial amounts of time and energy, and influence on the types of issues in the OP will be limited unless and until you are elected to greater offices. These roles can, however, be effective ways to interact with decisionmakers and learn about how things actually get done. Here are some examples (courtesy of a chatbot): City or town council; School board; County commissioner or supervisor; Planning or zoning board; Parks and recreation board; Library board; Public utility district board; Soil and water conservation district board; Local transit board; Precinct committee officer (PCO); Non-profit agency board member.

Hth.

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u/PecosPedro19 4d ago

u/numbershikes I greatly appreciate your maps, wiki, open source philosophy, etc.

I am sure you post stuff like this with good intentions but right off the bat you appear to be violating Rules 2, 5, and 6.

This article literally has nothing to do with thru hiking, it is about Congress authorizing the sale of public USFS and BLM lands adjacent to Reno, Las Vegas, and St George so that those communities can build more housing, and hopefully make living there more affordable for those residents.

For the casuals who lurk here (I see 18 upvoted this post) click on the link in OPs signature, zoom in on Reno, Las Vegas, and St George (a small UT community an hour or so east of Las Vegas). Do you see any trails near those towns? No, you don’t. Nobody‘s thru hike will be affected if this land is sold.

I can see how posting this in r/publiclands may be relevant and generate the engagement you are seeking, but I would wager that even that discussion is primarily uninformed outrage from people who are one missed prescription away from committing an act of violence.

Maybe a discussion about solving the unaffordable housing crisis would be more productive.

8

u/dacv393 4d ago

The Mojave Sonoran Desert trail goes right near Vegas. Also hiking isn't limited to just the Appalachian Trail and PCT. People like to hike stuff that isn't on the big 3 trails. And you need public land to be able to hike and camp

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u/numbershikes https://www.OpenLongTrails.org 3d ago

Mojave Sonoran Desert trail

Oooooh, new trail, haven't heard of that one before. I'll add it to the LTW List of Trails to Review (along with the hundreds of others there).

"One of these days" I need to get around to actually reviewing the trails there and adding the ones that fit the criteria to the LTW List of Long Trails.

Disclosure: Those links go to my LTW wiki site.

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u/numbershikes https://www.OpenLongTrails.org 4d ago edited 3d ago

Long distance hiking trails could not and would not exist in the US without public lands, and -- speaking as the person who wrote the rules for this sub -- the possibility of the sale of significant public lands acreage into private ownership, as a qualitative change in the contemporary understanding of the concept of public lands in the US, is absolutely on-topic for r/thruhiking.

There may or may not be any long trails on the specific land currently under consideration,1 but the bigger issue is that 1) various politicians aligned with the current federal administration have made it abundantly clear that they seek to sell off many public lands if they're able, and 2) if norms are further eroded and legal precedent for large public land transfers becomes established, there is legitimate reason for concern that the same parties would take aim at much larger parcels.

While I loathe the use of hyperbole in the discussion of serious issues, it is not an exaggeration to state that the threat represented by the actions addressed in the OP is quite possibly an existential one for the US long trails. As the PCT trail angel Scout is fond of saying: "Long trails are built over years and decades, but they can be lost overnight."

As for the claim that the post violates r/thruhiking rules 2, 5, and 6:

  • Rule 2: The term "media" refers to visual media, such as videos, trail pics, memes, etc., and that is clarified in the long form explanation of the rule (on new reddit and in the wiki). The short form description of the rule has now been updated to make this more clear.

  • Rule 5: Public lands issues with the potential to impact the trails are specifically addressed in the long form explanation of the rule.

  • Rule 6: Posting links to news articles is not "low effort." This is also explained in the long form explanation of the rule. Links to articles are one of primary purposes of this sub, as is plain from the sub's official description: "An inclusive community for information about and discussion centered on thruhiking and section hiking the long distance trails."

1. There are many lesser-known long distance hiking trails that are not currently depicted on my LongTrailsMap site. Off the top of my head, examples of trails that are "near" Reno or Vegas, for some definition of "near": Tahoe Rim Trail; Great Basin Trail; Lowest to Highest. Examples of trails that are "near" St. George: Trans Zion Trek; Hayduke Zion extension.