Tucked inside the U.S. Senate’s budget-reconciliation draft cheekily dubbed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” is a title that forces the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to sell between 0.5% and 0.75% of all the land they steward. That works out to roughly 2 million to  3.3 million acres that must hit the auction block within five years.

While the acreage quota sounds modest, the criteria are anything but: any “multiple-use” parcel in 11 western states, some 250 million acres in all, may be nominated by “an interested party.” Wilderness areas and national parks are off-limits, but roadless areas, wildlife corridors and recreation hotspots are squarely in the crosshairs.

Under the bill the Interior and Agriculture secretaries have 30 days to solicit nominations, then must post new for-sale lists every 60 days until they’ve met the quota.

FOLLOW THE MONEY

Supporters pitch the idea as a housing fix, but the fine print tells another story. Up to 90% of the proceeds flow straight to the U.S. Treasury, only 5% to the state where the land sits, and 5% to the selling agency. Independent analysts peg total revenue at $5 billion to $10 billion, pennies in a $7 trillion budget but handy for offsetting tax cuts elsewhere in the bill.

After 10 years the “housing” requirement evaporates, opening the newly privatized acres to mining, energy and other industrial uses.

‘NO IMPACT ON PA.’ — FOR NOW

Because the language is limited to Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming, the PA Wilds escapes the immediate chopping block. In fact, Pennsylvania has little BLM land, fewer than 617,000 federally owned acres, or about 2% of the state.

But precedents matter. Congress has rarely compelled large-scale disposals; under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act the BLM typically moves only isolated parcels tens of thousands of acres per decade, not millions. If this quota-driven model survives, there is nothing to stop future majorities from expanding the mandate eastward or demanding “offset” sales from the Allegheny National Forest and the state forests that anchor our region’s outdoor economy.

We’ve seen the playbook before: former Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz’s 2017 bill (H.R. 621) to dispose of 3 million acres collapsed under public outrage — but it’s back, super-sized, inside a must-pass budget text.

WHY CONSERVATIONISTS CRY FOUL
Conservationists reject the bill’s talking points, arguing that the promise of “cheaper housing near mountain towns” is illusory because the measure contains no affordability mandate and allows parcels to flip to luxury developments, or even mines, after 10 years. Likewise, the claim that only “unused, isolated land” would be sold is belied by eligibility maps that sweep in recreation corridors, critical wildlife habitat and grazing allotments.
Although supporters tout “local voices first,” the right of first refusal granted to states and counties is largely symbolic, as few can out-bid well-capitalized developers, and tribal nations receive no preference at all.

Finally, framing the sale as a path to a “balanced budget” rings hollow: the projected $5 billion to $10 billion in receipts barely dents the deficit and chiefly underwrites unrelated tax cuts.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR PA WILDS

Our region’s brand — rugged landscapes, public access and wildlife aplenty — rests on the idea that some places are held in common, not parceled out for short-term gain. Even if the Allegheny and our 2 million acres of state forest remain intact today, a successful western selloff would prove Congress can liquidate public land whenever fiscal convenience demands it. That precedent undermines decades of bipartisan conservation and threatens outdoor-recreation economies everywhere.

To make your voice heard, start by staying informed: follow the reconciliation debate as it advances toward a Senate vote before July 4. Next, contact Sens. Dave McCormick (www.mccormick.senate.gov/share-your-opinion/) and John Fetterman (www.fetterman.senate.gov/contact/) and urge them to back any amendment that strips the land-sale title entirely. Share your own story, whether you are a hiker, camper, hunter, fisherman, bird watcher, outfitter or small-town business owner so lawmakers and neighbors alike understand how public land underpins the PA Wilds economy and way of life.

Plug into allied organizations such as Backcountry Hunters & Anglers and the Keystone Trails Association, which are already coordinating calls and letters to help amplify your message.

The bill may target western acres today, but it normalizes the idea that America’s public lands are just budget line items. If we want to keep the PA Wilds wild and public we must speak up before this Trojan horse rolls any further.

(Jed Hamberger, of Bradford, is the owner of Grouse Brook Kennels and Guide Service.)