After a controversial provision allowing the sale of public lands in Utah and Nevada was stripped from a massive spending package, Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee hinted he may try to revive it in the Senate.

Utah Republican Rep. Celeste Maloy initially proposed selling nearly 11,500 acres of Bureau of Land Management land in southwestern Utah to Washington and Beaver counties, the Washington County Water Conservancy District and St. George, in addition to 450,000 acres in Nevada.

However, amid bipartisan opposition led by Montana Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke — who had said that selling public lands is a line he wouldn’t cross — the U.S. House ended up striking the language from the proposed spending package, widely referred to as the “big, beautiful” bill.

Lee, who chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, told Politico’s E&E News on his way to cast a vote on Monday he intended to bring back the public lands provisions. Lee’s office didn’t confirm or deny the plans Tuesday.

“Senator Lee remains committed to advancing Western priorities and ensuring that those who live closest to the land have a voice in how it’s managed,” his office wrote in a statement. “As the process moves forward, he’ll continue to advocate for solutions that reflect the needs of Utahns and other Western communities.”

However, Lee’s comment is already worrying environmental advocates, like Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, who have defended the recreational role of public lands among Americans.

“Senator Lee’s avowed and oft-stated hatred of public lands makes him a true outlier in the Senate,” Travis Hammill, D.C. director for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, said in a statement. “His apparent intention to include a public lands sell-off provision in the Budget Bill, which was fiercely opposed in the House, is wildly out of step with what Americans have made clear that they want to see: federal public lands remaining in public hands.”

While the provision introduced by Maloy and Nevada Republican Rep. Mark Amodei was met with intense pushback, the “big, beautiful” bill is poised to undergo changes in the Senate with officials like Lee saying it needs to improve to pass the chamber.

In a previous statement, Maloy had defended the proposal, arguing that it would help expand water, transportation and housing infrastructure in southwestern Utah as the region deals with rapid population growth.

If allowed to purchase the public lands, St. George officials were considering an airport expansion; Washington County Water Conservancy District planned to build a new reservoir and Washington County contemplated widening some roads.

After the proposal was cut from the House’s version of the budget bill, St. George city leaders said they planned on working with other lawmakers on the issue.

“We were disappointed that some groups falsely presented this amendment as if it were a land grab,” city leaders said. “In actuality, the amendment was intended to protect existing critical infrastructure or future critical infrastructure that would be built on already disturbed public lands. Only approximately nine acres would have been used for attainable housing, at a spot adjacent to a future cemetery and an existing residential subdivision.”

Utah News Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.