Southwest Washington's Gifford Pinchot National Forest could be sold off under proposal backed by Trump

'This is wildly unpopular among the populace. People treasure our public lands' — Wilderness Society

By Mari Kanagy

Editor’s note: Mari Kanagy is a Seattle-based freelance journalist. She graduated from the University of Washington in 2024 with a bachelor's degrees in journalism and socio-legal studies. She originally is from Vashon Island, Washington, and is a regular contributor to the island’s local paper, The Beachcomber. This is her second assignment for Lower Columbia Currents.

About two-thirds of Southwest Washington’s majestic Gifford Pinchot National Forest — a 1.3 million-acre expanse of lakes, peaks, waterfalls and ancient forests that attracts more than a million visitors annually — could be auctioned off under a Senate bill backed by the Trump Administration.

The legislation would make 250 million acres of public land across 11 western states eligible for sale, including 5 million acres of public land in Washington, according to the Wilderness Society.

The bill states land would be available for sale to “any interested party.”

Popular hiking areas in Gifford Pinchot — including Silver Star Mountain, Dog Mountain, East Fork Lewis River and Falls Creek Falls — fall within the proposed sale area. Some Gifford Pinchot areas that would be excluded from sale are the 110,000-acre Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, congressionally established wilderness areas such as the Indian Heaven area and lands with active mineral rights.

“We know that this is wildly unpopular among the populace — people treasure our public lands,” said Megan Birzell, Washington state director for the Wilderness Society. “It would be disastrous to lose this national asset. … Once these lands are sold, they’re gone forever.”

National Forests such as the Gifford Pinchot are important sources of clean water and are refuges for many species that live in older forests. The Gifford Pinchot contains hundreds of miles of hiking trails, expansive hunting lands snd numerous campgrounds.

National forests are essential recreational areas, especially as the nation’s national parks get increasingly overcrowded.

The Gifford Pinchot stretches from the Columbia River Gorge nearly to Mount Rainier. It is named after a noted conservationist who became the first chief of the U.S. Forest Service in 1905.

The bill directs the Forest Service and U.S. Bureau of Land Management to begin the “mandatory disposal” of between 2 million and 3 million acres, with sales starting within 30 days of passage, laying out a timeline to meet the quota by 2030.

Proposed by Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), the bill is part of the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill” which senators are pushing to President Donald Trump’s desk.

The legislation is moving quickly, bypassing Senate committee markup, and offering no opportunities for hearings, debates or public comment..

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee cites a shortage of housing as the reason for selling the public land, even though most federal lands are far from urban population centers.

Selling the land, the summary claims, would “create thousands of jobs, allow millions of Americans to realize the American dream, and reduce the deficit and fund our public lands.”

Proceeds from sales of public lands would be a proverbial drop in the bucket compared with the size of the national debt ($37 trillion). And framing lumber — the kind commonly sourced from national forests — accounts for only about 15 to 20% of house construction costs.

Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) spoke out against selling public land at a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee last week, citing that the proposal goes against two laws from Trump’s first presidency that put money toward acquiring land.

“It doesn't say ‘sell public lands,’” Cantwell said in a June 11 press release. “It says ‘acquire lands.’ So, I don't know how you're proposing a budget that basically is going in the opposite direction of what was, let me refresh my memory, 60 sponsors in the Senate, 254 in the House.”

This is the first time in the modern era that Congress has proposed selling national public land, said Birzell, of the Wilderness Society.

Molly Whitney, executive director of Cascade Forest Conservancy, says the group will focus its opposition campaign on the House, where the bill will go if it passes the Senate. There, they will have more time to contact Congressional members and mount more pushback.

“This is not a divisive political issue, regardless of party affiliation,” Whitney said. “Almost everybody, especially in the West and nationwide, supports public land.”

This is just an attempt to make the wealthy richer at public expense, she said.

State and local governments would have first right of refusal to purchase federal land, but the bill states land should be sold for “not less than market value.” For many governments, especially in light of Washington’s projected $12 billion revenue shortfall, purchasing the land is likely not realistic.

“They’re given right of first refusal, but with what money are they going to buy them?” Birzell said. “So, the reality is that these lands are going into private hands.”

Federally recognized Indian tribes were not granted the same purchasing opportunity. The Yakama Nation and Cowlitz Indian Tribe have memorandums of understanding with the U.S. Forest Service concerning Gifford Pinchot, including agreements to consult on land management and treaty resources.

“There has been zero consultation with the tribes, which I think is just abhorrent,” Whitney said.

The legislation is an attempt to bypass the government-to-government relationship between the tribes and federal administration, and it “is a complete overreach by the U.S. government,” Whitney added.

Cowlitz tribal leaders did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Whitney says losing the majority of Gifford Pinchot would be devastating for Southwest Washingtonians and visitors alike.

“There’s really no other place like it,” Whitney said. “You almost have to go there to understand how truly amazing it is. The old growth there, the landscapes, the beauty, the iconic mountains: It’s amazing.”