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Mother and daughter, Ariane Newall, right, and Emily Newall, left, both of Orem, wear shirts opposing the sale of public lands at a Conserve Utah Valley town hall at Quail Orchard Park in Provo on Thursday, June 26, 2025.

Curtis Booker, Daily Herald

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Postcards to be sent to Utah state representatives displaying opposition to the sale of public lands are shown at a Conserve Utah Valley town hall at Quail Orchard Park in Provo on Thursday, June 26, 2025.

Curtis Booker, Daily Herald

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Caroline Gleich, former U.S. Senate candidate, speaks to a crowd at a Conserve Utah Valley town hall addressing the potential sale of public lands at Quail Orchard Park in Provo on Thursday, June 26, 2025.

Curtis Booker, Daily Herald

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Conserve Utah Valley board member Teri Harman speaks to the crowd at a town hall addressing the potential sale of public lands at Quail Orchard Park in Provo on Thursday, June 26, 2025.

Curtis Booker, Daily Herald

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Sen. Mike Lee’s proposed bill to sell off public land in the western United States has been scaled back significantly since his initial proposal to sell 2 million to 3 million acres was rejected by the Senate on Tuesday.

In the new plan, according to reports, only Bureau of Land Management land within 5 miles of a population center border is eligible to be sold, and U.S. Forest Service land will be off limits. BLM would be required to sell between 0.25% to 0.5% of its land across 11 western states, accounting for anywhere between 612,500 to 1.225 million acres.

The revised proposal has not cooled the concern level of conservation groups in the state, though, including Conserve Utah Valley, an organization that first assembled to push back against a proposal to sell Bridal Veil Falls to a developer in 2020.

The group gathered at Quail Orchard Park in Provo on Thursday night for a town hall to speak out against the sale of public land.

“If we’re going to make a change in the ownership of the land, is it transparent?” Conserve Utah Valley Director Carol-Lyn Jardine said. “Does the public have a say? Is the initiative that’s being put forward clear, and do we understand the benefit of it compared to the risk? And in this current initiative, that’s clear that none of those things are true.”

Attendees gave themselves a say by writing postcards to their local representatives, including Lee and Sen. John Curtis, telling them to support public land preservation, while Conserve Utah Valley leaders spoke on the implications of Lee’s proposal.

There is BLM land in Utah County that is still susceptible to being sold, according to Conserve Utah Valley Public Outreach Director Teri Harman, who specifically mentioned the Lake Mountain, West Mountain and Goshen Bay areas near Utah Lake.

These areas, Harman said, have “thriving” and “dense” desert habitats with many plants and animals. In the Lake Mountain area specifically there is rock imagery etched by natives of the land.

She also emphasized that the areas’ accessibility due to BLM protections creates free recreation opportunities.

“Public lands hold our history and memories,” Harman said. “Public lands protect our biodiversity, ecosystem and the health of all life. Public lands offer us fun, pleasure and connection to nature.”

Caroline Gleich, an environmental activist who was Utah’s Democratic candidate for senate last year, offered words of encouragement to attendees.

“We can’t let temporary setbacks derail us,” she said. “We just have to be relentless and keep showing up and speaking up. … Remember your joy, and don’t let this work steal that from you, because joy too is an act of resistance. So make sure you take time to experience the magic and the joy of Utah’s public lands.”

Nearly two-thirds of Utah’s land is owned by the federal government, with 42% operated by the Bureau of Land Management, or 22.8 million acres.

What specific land would be sold in Lee’s revised plan remains unclear. Mike Lee’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

The proposed bill does lay out some parameters of what land is eligible to be sold, though.

According to Utah Dispatch, sold land will be used solely for developing housing or infrastructure and amenities to support local housing. Land nominated by state or local governments in developed areas that is suitable for housing would be prioritized, and nominating land for sale would require a description of how land would address local housing needs.

“I’m working closely with the Trump administration to ensure that any federal land sales serve the American people — not foreign governments, not the Chinese Communist Party, and not massive corporations looking to pad their portfolios. This land must go to American families,” Sen. Lee posted on his X account Wednesday.