WASHINGTON— Sen. Mike Lee has introduced an amendment to the Interior appropriations bill that would remove language preventing the sale of America’s national parks and other protected lands.

“By taking dead aim at our national parks, Sen. Lee is declaring war on the most beloved public lands in America,” said Randi Spivak, public lands policy director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Lee somehow didn't learn from his last failed attempt to auction off our public lands to private interests, but he's going to lose twice as hard this time. America’s national parks are not for sale, and Americans will again stand up and loudly defend our nation’s beautiful crown jewels from this despicable attempt to privatize and destroy them.”

Sen. Lee’s amendment could pave the way for the Trump administration to sell off national parks to the highest bidder.

As currently written, the bill would bar the Department of the Interior from selling national park units, a provision that was introduced after Interior Secretary Doug Burgum suggested that the National Park Service does not need many smaller sites. If passed, Lee’s amendment would remove that prohibition, signaling to the White House that shrinking America’s national park system is acceptable.

President Trump’s 2026 budget proposal would have funded only a fraction of the national park system, a reduction that could have forced the elimination of some park units.

Sen. Lee, the chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, has emerged as one of Congress’ most ardent proponents of selling and privatizing public lands. Earlier this year he introduced a provision to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that would have allowed a huge sell-off of millions of acres of America's public lands. Massive public outrage and bipartisan opposition to selling public lands led to the provision’s decisive defeat.

“Everyone who loves our national parks needs to call their senators right now and demand they stand up for our nation's cherished public lands,” said Spivak. “Americans are united in loving our parks and public lands, and we’ll all be watching this vote very closely.”

Privatizing public lands is deeply unpopular. A 2025 survey found that 82% of Western voters oppose selling public lands to address housing challenges, and 83% say the loss of natural areas is a serious problem.