As U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., read through audience members’ questions at her Cody town hall, concern about a potential sell-off of federal lands popped up over and over again.

“Sounds like The Wilderness Society got a lot of people out here today,” Hageman chuckled, as she flipped through more index cards expressing opposition to or questioning the plans to sell off federal lands.

Or, a woman sitting in the back of the Wynona Thompson Auditorium quietly countered to her seatmate, “it could be we just like our public lands.”

The concern has been triggered by a provision U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, inserted into the Senate version of Congressional Republicans’ budget bill, colloquially known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” The measure would require the federal government to sell off 0.5-0.75% of all Bureau of Land Management and National Forest system lands, with the aim of boosting affordable housing. According to estimates by various media outlets and organizations, that would mean selling between 2.2 million and 3.3 million acres across 11 Western states, including Wyoming.

Hageman sought to downplay the potential impact at Tuesday’s town hall, saying the bill takes a “very targeted” approach that would involve input from nearby communities before any sales. She gave the example of BLM inholdings within the City of Las Vegas that currently cannot be developed.

“This is an example of, ‘It doesn’t make sense that you keep those parcels just for the sake of keeping those parcels,’” Hageman said.

She noted that the federal government owns more than 640 million acres across the country, including holding 80% of the land in Nevada and a majority of the acreage in Utah.

Hageman said she “of course” doesn’t think the government should go out and sell 14 million acres to the highest bidder, but also pushed back on the idea that all public lands need to remain in the government’s hands.

“We never, ever, ever talk about ever disposing of any federal lands under any circumstance whatsoever,” Hageman said. “That absolutely makes no sense whatsoever in a growing country.”

She mentioned the need for affordable housing and the potential income that sales could bring into the federal treasury.

“When you talk about wanting your grandchildren to be able to access these public lands, I want my grandchildren to not have to face a $70 trillion debt of their federal government,” Hageman told the crowd.

Text from the bill shared online says priority would be given to tracts that are nominated for sale by states or local governments, are adjacent to developed areas, have access to existing infrastructure and are suitable for residential housing. And places like national parks, recreation areas, monuments, historic sites and wild scenic rivers are off-limits in Lee’s proposal.

“He has identified … the vast majority of the categories that so many of you care about protecting,” Hageman said Tuesday.

But The Wilderness Society says some 250 million acres could theoretically be eligible for sale, including many federal lands within Park County. An interactive map that the environmental group created, depicting the lands that could theoretically be nominated for sale, has been widely shared.

The potential sell-off has hit a nerve, including among some Republicans.

For example, Karin Richard of Cody, the founder of the Park County Conservative Women and generally a supporter of Hageman, has been encouraging local residents to contact their representatives and oppose Lee’s measure.

“These lands DO NOT belong to the federal government. Or the state government. Or our local government. These are OUR lands,” Richard wrote in a Tuesday Facebook post, saying she was not persuaded by Hageman’s remarks on the subject.

Town hall

The freshman representative — who’s pledged to hold at least one town hall in every county each year — drew more than 100 people to Tuesday morning’s hourlong event. However, the tone was markedly different from the one Hageman hosted in Powell last year, in which she drew an overwhelmingly supportive audience.

While Hageman had the backing of many of Tuesday’s attendees, there was a significant contingent of detractors. A handful of audience members occasionally jeered and heckled the representative during her remarks, which covered topics like boost mineral production, potential work requirements for able-bodied Medicaid recipients, tax cuts and the potential elimination of the U.S. Department of Education and Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Some rose to give Hageman a standing ovation when she wrapped up the event, while others booed; one man toward the back silently extended both middle fingers toward the lawmaker.

Still, the Cody event was relatively tame in comparison to the raucous receptions that Hageman received at a pair of March events in Laramie and Wheatland. The boisterous crowds at those gatherings prompted Hageman to briefly pause her in-person town halls and then resume them with new precautions.

Attendees were directed to sign up in advance for Tuesday’s town hall in Cody and questions had to be submitted in writing instead of from the audience. A trio of uniformed Cody police officers attended the event, though outside from briefly speaking with one young man who yelled a profanity at the lawmaker, they didn’t need to intervene.

Rep. Hageman also made a couple other stops during his visit to Park County, including to GT Aeronautics at the Powell Municipal Airport and the Medical Center Pharmacy in Cody.