The Uncosted West · Episode 15 of 15 · 47 min
Selling Off the West: The 2025-26 Fight Over America's Public Lands
After a century and a half of pricing public minerals, grass, and timber near zero, in 2025 and 2026 the country is deciding whether to reform the system or finish selling it off. The finale weaves the public-land sell-off fight, the Pebble Mine veto litigation, and mining-law reform versus deregulation, gives the pro-development case its full weight, and returns to a hand-built trail and a flock of sheep.
Who's who
- Mike Lee+1 more episodeUtah senator who proposed mandating sales of federal public land
- Ben Ray Luján+3 more episodesSenator sponsoring the 2025 mining reform bill
- Raúl Grijalva+3 more episodesCongressman who introduced the House mining reform bill, died March 2025
- Elizabeth MacDonoughSenate Parliamentarian who ruled the land-sale provision out of order
- Brooke Rollins+4 more episodesAgriculture Secretary who moved to rescind the Roadless Rule
- Doug Burgum+3 more episodesInterior Secretary who rescinded the Public Lands Rule
Where it happens
- Bristol Bay, Alaska+7 more episodesFishery watershed protected by the EPA's Pebble Mine veto
- Anchorage, Alaska+6 more episodesFederal court hearing the Pebble litigation
Timeline
- January 2023EPA issues Clean Water Act veto effectively blocking the Pebble Mine
- March 2025Mining Waste, Fraud, and Abuse Prevention Act introduced
- June 11, 2025Lee unveils a reconciliation provision mandating sales of federal land
- June 28, 2025Lee withdraws the provision
- February 25, 2026Justice Department files brief backing the EPA veto
- June 25, 2026Oral argument in the Pebble case in Anchorage
Still debated
The Pebble litigation outcome is unknown and appealable, and Lee's sell-off provision was withdrawn rather than defeated, so it may return. Analysts disagree on how much blocked U.S. mining is replaced by dirtier foreign supply and on whether reform costs would deter domestic projects.
Connected episodes in other series
A Century and a Half of Almost: Why the Law Never ChangesFree and Open: The 1872 Mining Law · Episode 9Also features Ben Ray Luján, Doug Burgum
The Greatest Good? How the Forest Service Promised to Manage Public LandThe Long Run · Episode 1Also features Brooke Rollins, Doug Burgum
Dismantling a Century of Forest ScienceGround Truth: Forest Service Research · Episode 10Also features Brooke Rollins
The KeystoneRight to Vote · Episode 1Also features Mike Lee