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Orgo-Life the new way to the future Advertising by AdpathwayDENVER (KDVR) — A proposed bill could put millions of acres of public land up for sale, based on a new study, and that includes areas in Colorado.
The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources released legislative text to be considered as part of Senate Republicans’ budget reconciliation bill. After a revised version of the bill was released, a non-profit group warned that this means millions of acres of public land across the country could be for sale.
The Wilderness Society, a non-profit organization in Denver, released a study finding that over 250 million acres of land across the country would be eligible for sale if this bill passes, including local recreation, wilderness study and inventoried roadless areas.
How much public land is eligible for sale under bill
The study said it used data from the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, U.S. Geological Survey and the reconciliation bill text as of June 14 to find how much eligible land could be for sale.
Here's what could be for sale:

While this bill could leave millions of acres for sale, it would be taking just over 3 million acres across the country.
Here's how much land could be available in the eligible states:
State | Total Acreage Available for Sale | USFS Acreage Available for Sale | BLM Acreage Available for Sale |
Alaska | 79,491,531 | 15,944,525 | 63,547,006 |
Arizona | 14,423,967 | 8,421,847 | 6,002,121 |
California | 16,682,607 | 11,170,196 | 5,512,411 |
Colorado | 14,352,632 | 9,384,415 | 4,968,217 |
Idaho | 21,685,823 | 13,287,959 | 8,397,864 |
Nevada | 33,580,624 | 3,527,280 | 30,053,344 |
New Mexico | 14,312,074 | 6,479,502 | 7,832,572 |
Oregon | 21,745,380 | 9,889,298 | 11,856,082 |
Utah | 18,746,709 | 6,096,360 | 12,650,349 |
Washington | 5,371,690 | 5,027,438 | 344,252 |
Wyoming | 14,940,234 | 5,311,119 | 9,629,116 |
Total | 255,333,273 | 94,539,939 | 160,793,334 |
This comes after the 69-page document requested a "Mandatory disposal of Bureau of Land Management land and National Forest System land for housing."
It said the Secretary of Agriculture is to dispose of no less than 0.5% and no more than 0.75% of National Forest System and Bureau of Land Management land for local housing needs, including housing supply and affordability.
The areas said to be at risk in Colorado can be found on a map on the Wilderness Society's website. It includes areas near Aspen, Vail, Gunnison, Arapaho National Forest, Independence Mountain and several other areas across the Front Range.
USFS and BLM aren't providing a comment on the bill.