Denver, April 11 -- Last Friday, during the budget vote-a-rama, Senator John Hickenlooper sponsored an amendment, with Senator Michael Bennet joining as a co-sponsor, which would have prevented the sale of public lands from being included in the budget reconciliation package that will be moving through Congress soon. The budget package is seeking trillions of dollars to pay for the permanent extension of the 2017 tax cuts, tax cuts which overwhelmingly benefit the wealthiest Americans . Last week, E&E News reported that Congressional Republicans were considering including the sale of public lands in the budget package in order to pay for those proposed tax cuts.

The measure gained support across the aisle with a yes vote from the Republ...