In the 1500s, English monarchs ruled by divine right — and governed through favors. One of their most powerful tools was land. Vast estates were handed to nobles and courtiers, concentrating wealth and locking everyday people out of forests, rivers and fields that had once served the commons.
It’s an old story — and it’s happening again.
Today, the U.S. Senate is considering the sale of millions of acres of federally owned public lands. These aren’t just patches of dirt. They’re habitats for wildlife, carbon sinks, and sacred ground for Indigenous communities. They’re where Americans hike, hunt, fish, and connect with nature — often freely.
Selling these lands to private interests or transferring them to states with a track record of selling them off isn’t fiscal responsibility — it’s ecological theft.
History teaches us that when land is consolidated into fewer hands, the outcome is always the same: less access, more extraction, and a loss for the common good. We shouldn’t repeat the mistakes of the past. Public lands must stay public — for everyone, now and for generations to come.
Lenley Hensarling
Heber City