Bennet bill aims to block future federal land sell-offs in the West

A future federal land sell-off would hit the Four Corners where it hurts most, at the trailheads, campgrounds, hunting grounds, fishing access and backcountry routes that define how people use public land here. U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet is trying to shut down the shortcut that nearly put millions of acres on the block last year.

Bennet introduced the Public Lands Integrity Act on Thursday, April 30, 2026, with Democratic co-sponsors Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico. The bill would bar Congress from using the budget reconciliation process, which can pass the Senate with a simple majority, to sell federal public lands. For recreation users across Colorado, Utah and New Mexico, that means one of the few legislative back doors for a mass land sale would be closed.

The move comes after a bruising 2025 fight over the Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Bennet’s office said the Senate nearly approved a provision that would have sold 1 million to 3 million acres of federal public lands to raise revenue for other priorities. Earlier Senate language in 2025 went even further, raising the possibility of selling up to 3.3 million acres of public lands in the West. By late June 2025, that sell-off language had been stripped from the megabill after bipartisan backlash.

That close call is why the latest push is drawing attention in Colorado. Support letters filed with Bennet’s office on April 29, 2026, said the Colorado General Assembly had passed a resolution last year opposing efforts to sell, transfer or dispose of national public lands, with near-unanimous support. Those letters also said state leaders were grateful the Colorado delegation helped remove the prior sell-off language. In a state where public land shapes weekend travel, local economies and everyday access, the issue landed well beyond Washington, D.C.

The National Wildlife Federation said the Public Lands Integrity Act is meant to keep public lands accessible for wildlife and people alike by forbidding Congress from using reconciliation to sell them off. The U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee also noted that public lands sales provisions in the Republicans’ so-called Big, Beautiful Bill were stricken after thousands of Americans pushed to keep public lands in public hands. For the Four Corners, where Bureau of Land Management tracts, national forest trail systems and open desert are central to adventure life, Bennet’s bill is aimed at preventing the next sell-off fight before it starts.