Trump administration announces new plan to sell public lands

This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. End of dialog window. The Trump administration is planning to sell some public lands in the years ahead, it announced this week. The Interior Department “will work to decrease the size of the federal estate by offering to states, localities and Tribes the opportunity to purchase federal lands,” said a new strategic department plan for the years 2026 through 2030. “Through these sales, the Department will be able to focus its resources on primary federal responsibilities and nationally significant federal lands,” it said. The report added that “a portion” of the money from these sales could go back to the purchaser “for conservation purposes elsewhere in the state, locality or Tribal land, leading to improved recreation access for American citizens, while at the same time decreasing the federal taxpayer’s financial responsibility to manage federal lands.” In addition, the plan says the department will “consolidate its workforce.” It did not say what exactly this would entail, and spokespeople for the department did not respond to a question from The Hill about whether this would mean layoffs. The department also did not respond to questions about the land sales. However, Kate Groetzinger, communications director at the Center for Western Priorities, expressed concern that while the plan calls for selling lands to states and localities, lands could be resold to private companies. “There’s nothing stopping a state or a local government or a tribe from turning around and selling land to a private developer,” Groetzinger said. “Public lands are part of the culture and the lifestyle out west, and a lot of the lands that developers might be interested in would be land that’s near communities, and that’s the lands that people use to recreate on most often,” she added. Senate Republicans last year attempted to include public land sales in President Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill, but later removed the provision amid significant bipartisan pushback. Meanwhile, the call to consolidate the workforce comes as The Washington Post reported this week that the administration was considering a “realignment” of the National Park Service and the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This includes “pending duty station changes,” meaning there could be changes in where staffers work, according to The Post. A recent Fish and Wildlife Service report also recommends reducing headquarters and regional office staffing in order to “reallocate” positions to wildlife refuge operations. Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.