This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

In the small hours of Thursday morning, US congressman Jason Chaffetz announced that he would withdraw a bill he introduced last week that would have ordered the incoming secretary of the interior to immediately sell off 3.3m acres of national land.

Chaffetz, a representative from Utah, wrote on Instagram that he had a change of heart in the face of strong opposition from “groups I support and care about” who, he said, “fear it sends the wrong message”.

House bill 621 had ignited a firestorm of indignation from conservationists but also from hunters and fishermen, who contribute to the $646bn generated by outdoor recreation across the US each year.

“Once that bill was introduced, the hornet’s nest was kicked,” said Land Tawney, president and CEO of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, a group that supported public land rallies in opposition. “What happened last week was just a small fraction of the ire the sportsman community has been feeling.”



Tawney told the Guardian that for too long, the federal government’s focus has been on starving public lands of the resources needed for them to be as healthy and accessible to the public as they should be.

“We’re fired up, and this is just the beginning,” said Tawney, who promised that sportsmen would keep fighting the manifold attacks on public lands.

In his statement, Chaffetz did not mention a second piece of legislation he introduced last week, the Local Enforcement for Local Lands Act (HR 622), which would strip the Bureau of Land Management and US Forest Service of its law enforcement capacity. These two federal agencies have been criticized by supporters of Cliven Bundy and some Republican politicians for enforcing federal grazing laws.

Tawney said that Backcountry Hunters and Anglers would fight HR 622 as well.

Utah’s congressional delegation has led the charge in introducing legislation against national lands. Congressman Rob Bishop introduced the House rule change that devalued federal land, making it easier for Congress to pass bills like Chaffetz’s that would either sell it off or give it away.

Senator Orrin Hatch has proposed eliminating the 1906 Antiquities Act, which has allowed presidents since Theodore Roosevelt to designate 129 national monuments. The Utah delegation has also vigorously fought to open Ute tribal land in their state, currently partially protected by the Bears Ears National Monument to drilling, despite the tribe’s opposition.

A spokesperson for Chaffetz said he was not available for comment.



While Chaffetz tagged his post #keepitpublic, a slogan that defined the opposition to his bill, it’s unclear whether the congressman or the Republican party would step back from a broader commitment to transfer national land to private entities and the states.



“I’d say this fight is far from over. We will not rest until this is taken out of the platform of the Republican party,” Tawney said. “Hunters and sportsmen are on notice, and Republicans should pay attention: we’re going to be there every single step of the way.”