Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.) said Wednesday he opposes the sale of public land as it’s outlined in the budget reconciliation package.
The House Natural Resources Committee passed its portion of the massive spending bill, which included an amendment to put federal acreage up for sale in Utah and Nevada.
“It’s a no now. It will be a no later. It will be a no forever,” Zinke, a former Interior secretary in the first Trump administration, said before the vote. He is not a member of the committee.
Zinke later doubled down on his remarks at a separate press conference where he said he would not change his opinion.
“I have told leadership before, I have told leadership since, that … I strongly don’t believe [land sales] should be in the reconciliation bill,” he said Wednesday, according to Politico.
“Our public lands is not a Republican or Democrat issue, it’s an American issue and we should use it in that context of being red, white and blue,” Zinke said at the press conference outside the Capitol to launch the bipartisan Public Lands Caucus.
Alongside Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-New Mexico), Zinke said the new caucus would protect and expand access to America’s public lands. He said the group would urge leaders to look at addressing how to manage forests, watershed and wildlife corridors.
The Associated Press contributed.