Sen. Lee Wants to Pave the Way to Sell National Parks. We Must Stop Him

Sen. Mike Lee of Utah is proposing a shocking new amendment that would pave the way for the Trump administration to sell your national parks to the highest bidder. And he wants to bring it to a vote immediately.

Lee, who chairs the Senate’s Energy and Natural Resource Committee, introduced the amendment Monday. If passed, it would strip language from an upcoming appropriations bill that states the federal government must protect and maintain national parks as federal lands. If the Senate passes this dangerous amendment, it sends a green-light message to the White House that it’s ok to sell off America’s national park legacy. The future of our national parks is at risk. Senators must stand up and say no — now.

We need park advocates everywhere to call their senators today and tell them to vote “no” on Lee Amendment #3972 and stop the national park sell-off NOW.

National parks belong to all Americans. They shouldn’t be political pawns, and they shouldn’t be for sale. We are weeks away from a yearlong commemoration of the 250th anniversary of America — we should be celebrating our national parks, not selling them.

Nobody asked for this. Nobody wants this. Americans understand that nobody benefits if our national parks are gutted.

Across party lines, Americans want landscapes and wildlife protected and history preserved by the parks. In fact, Americans agree that we need to conserve more of these places, not undermine, dismantle and silence the ones we have.

A vote in favor of the Lee amendment is a betrayal to the American people. A national park site is a promise to the American people to preserve nature and history for generations to come. There are more than 430 national parks across the country, from urban parks in New York or Chicago to rural ones in Idaho and Wyoming. Removing these one-of-a-kind natural and historic places from National Park Service protection would break that promise to the American people and threaten the park system we all know and love.

A vote for this amendment would threaten local economies across the country. Our parks are some of our country’s best investments. The National Park Service makes up less than one-fifteenth of 1 percent of the federal budget but delivers a $15 boost to the nation’s economy for every dollar invested. Parks drive billions into local economies and create thousands of jobs.

Attempting to unravel and dismantle our national parks could exact a devastating economic toll on local economies that rely on tourist dollars. It’s time to stop destroying America’s best idea and start investing in it.

We are weeks away from a yearlong commemoration of the 250th anniversary of America — we should be celebrating our national parks, not selling them.

Across the country, people flock — nearly 332 million visitors in 2024 alone — to our national parks, monuments, seashores, battlefields and historic sites to learn priceless, nationally significant stories from the American Revolution, the Civil War, the Civil Rights Movement and achievements such as the Wright Brothers’ first flight.

They tell stories of American presidents, suffragists, inventors, civil rights leaders and underground railroad conductors — stories that belong to all of us.

The threat is very real and very urgent. Call your senators today and the them to take a stand for our national parks.