🏜️ The New Manifest Destiny: How Senate Republicans Plan to Auction Off 14 Million Acres of Arizona's Sacred Desert, Including Tucson's Sabino Canyon

From Sabino Canyon to Pascua Yaqui lands, the largest public land sell-off in modern history threatens everything we hold dear in the Sonoran borderlands

Jun 20, 2025

😽 Keepin’ It Simple Summary for Younger Readers
👧🏾✊🏾👦🏾

The government wants to sell huge pieces of Arizona's desert 🏜️ and mountains ⛰️ to private companies and rich people 💰 to help pay for tax cuts for billionaires.

This includes places like Sabino Canyon where families go hiking 🚶‍♂️ and swimming 🏊‍♀️, and lands that originally belonged to Native American tribes like the Pascua Yaqui people.

The politicians say they're doing this to build houses 🏠, but really they want to let corporations mine, drill for oil ⛏️, and build expensive developments that regular families can't afford.

If this happens, many beautiful desert places could be fenced off forever 🚧, and the Native tribes wouldn't even get a chance to buy back their ancestral lands. People from both political parties are fighting 🤝 against this because they know it's wrong to sell America's natural treasures 🗺️ to the highest bidder.

🗝️ Takeaways

🚨 Massive Scale: 250+ million acres of Western public lands made eligible for sale, including 14 million acres in Arizona
🏔️ Local Impact: Beloved Tucson areas like Sabino Canyon, Mt. Lemmon, and Madera Canyon could be sold to private developers
🏛️ Indigenous Injustice: Pascua Yaqui Tribe has no guaranteed right to purchase adjacent federal lands, despite ancestral claims
💸 False Promise: "Affordable housing" justification is a cover for tax cuts for billionaires and corporate land speculation
💧 Water Grab: Land sales could lead to water rights speculation, threatening desert communities' most precious resource
🤝 Bipartisan Opposition: MAGA conservatives and progressives unite against this unprecedented public land seizure
⏰ Urgent Timeline: Senate must vote by July 4th, requiring immediate citizen action to stop the sell-off

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The New Manifest Destiny: How the Senate's Land Grab Threatens Arizona's Sacred Heart

Hermanos y hermanas, we are witnessing nothing less than the largest assault on our public lands in modern American history.

While we were distracted by the daily circus of politics, Senate Republicans have quietly crafted legislation that would put 250 million acres of Western public lands—including 14 million acres right here in Arizona—on the auction block to pay for tax cuts for billionaires.

This isn't just policy. This is la nueva conquista—the new conquest. And it's coming for everything we hold sacred in Sonora la Bella.

The Scope of This Betrayal

Let me paint you a picture of what we're facing.

According to the Wilderness Society, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, chaired by Utah's Mike Lee, has embedded language in Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" that would force the sale of between 2 million and 3 million acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Forest Service lands across 11 Western states over the next five years.

But here's the verdadero kicker: while they're only required to sell 2-3 million acres, the legislation makes over 250 million acres eligible for sale. That includes lands that "any interested party" can nominate for auction.

In Arizona alone, AZPM reports that 14 million acres could be put up for sale.

What's At Stake in Our Backyard

The impact on our beloved Sonoran Desert cannot be overstated. Iconic areas like Mt. Lemmon, Sabino Canyon, and Madera Canyon—places where generations of Tucsonenses have hiked, picnicked, and found spiritual renewal—meet the criteria for sale under this legislation.

Think about that for a moment.

Sabino Canyon, where the mesquite bosques whisper ancient stories and the desert ironwood trees have stood sentinel for centuries, could be fenced off and turned into private developments. The same trails where our abuelas gathered cholla buds and where our children take their first steps into the desert could be lost forever.

The bill's language is deliberately vague about protections.

While national parks and monuments are excluded, as The Wilderness Society notes, "Wilderness Study Areas, Areas of Critical Environmental Concern, roadless areas and critical habitat are all considered eligible for sale."

The Pascua Yaqui: A People Denied Their Birthright

Perhaps nowhere is the injustice of this land grab more apparent than in its treatment of Indigenous peoples. The Pascua Yaqui Tribe, whose ancestral territories span both sides of the current U.S.-Mexico border, faces a particularly cruel betrayal.

According to the research provided, the proposed Senate bill does not guarantee the Pascua Yaqui Tribe the first right to purchase federal land adjacent to their reservation. Instead, it gives state and local governments the first right of refusal, but makes no such provision for federally recognized tribes.

This is unconscionable.

The Yaqui people have lived in the Gila and Santa Cruz River valleys for centuries. They fled violence during the Mexican Revolution, sought refuge in Arizona, and have spent decades fighting for recognition and the return of even small parcels of their ancestral homeland.

Just this January, the Pascua Yaqui Tribe broke ground on their third casino on land in Old Pascua that required years of Congressional action to return to tribal trust. As Tribal Vice Chairman Peter Yucupicio said, "This is our home. It's always been our home."

Yet under this Senate bill, federal lands adjacent to the Pascua Yaqui Reservation could be sold to developers, mining companies, or anyone with enough cash, without even giving the tribe a chance to reacquire their ancestral territory.

Sacred Sites vs. Sacred Profits

The Tucson Sentinel reports that this bill could specifically impact Sabino Canyon, one of Southern Arizona's most treasured outdoor recreation areas.

But this isn't just about recreation—it's about the systematic dismantling of the commons, the privatization of spaces that belong to all of us.

For Indigenous communities, these aren't just "public lands"—they're sacred sites, burial grounds, ceremonial areas, and the physical embodiment of their cultural identity. The continued sale of these lands without tribal consultation or consent is nothing less than cultural genocide by auction.

The False Promise of "Affordable Housing"

The architects of this land grab, led by Senator Mike Lee, claim they're solving the housing crisis.

¡Qué mentira! What a lie.

Let's look at the numbers.

The bill is projected to generate between $5 billion and $10 billion over a nine-year period. Meanwhile, as MSNBC reports, this massive land sale is designed to fund tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy.

The legislation requires buyers to explain how their development would address "local housing needs," but there is no requirement that the housing actually be affordable. No income restrictions. No community land trusts. No protection against speculation.

What we'll get instead is luxury developments for wealthy retirees from California and trophy ranches for billionaires—all on land that once belonged to the people.

The Real Winners: Corporate Extractors

Make no mistake: this isn't about housing.

It's about opening up our sacred landscapes to extraction industries. The same bill includes provisions to expand oil, gas, coal, geothermal, and timber leasing on remaining public lands.

As the Center for American Progress notes, Senator Lee has a long history of opposing federal land ownership and has even suggested that federal land ownership in Utah could "justify war."

This is the same extractive mindset, Manifest Destiny, that has plagued our region for centuries—the belief that the land exists only to be consumed, commodified, and conquered.

Water: The Hidden Agenda

Here in the desert, we know that land and water are inseparable. Control the land, control the water. And in Arizona, water is becoming more valuable than gold.

While the bill contains language regarding water rights, stating that "any water rights that are appurtenant to land taken into trust by the United States for the benefit of the Tribe may not be forfeited or abandoned," there is no such protection for water rights on lands sold to private parties.

This opens the door for massive water speculation.

Imagine data centers—those water-guzzling server farms that tech companies are building across the desert—purchasing former federal lands along with their water rights. The same precious agua that sustained Indigenous communities for millennia could be diverted to cool servers for cryptocurrency mining.

A Bipartisan Resistance Emerges

There is hope, hermanos.

This land grab has united unlikely allies across the political spectrum. As Newsweek reports, MAGA conservatives and environmental progressives are standing together against this proposal.

Conservative environmentalist Benji Backer called Senator Lee a "liar" and pleaded with Republican senators not to "let this man ruin our legacy on conservation." Even former Trump Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has taken a "hard no" position on large-scale public land sales.

Montana Senator Steve Daines has stated that he opposes public land sales, and the bill exempts Montana entirely, demonstrating that political pressure can be effective.

The Power of Local Resistance

In May, Colorado Public Radio reports that Democratic Rep. Joe Neguse successfully removed a smaller public land sale provision from the House version of the budget bill through building a "bipartisan coalition."

This shows us the path forward: organized, sustained pressure can stop this land grab. But we need to act now.

Beyond Land: The New Manifest Destiny

What we're witnessing isn't just a policy disagreement—it's the continuation of a centuries-old pattern of dispossession.

From the original Manifest Destiny that justified the theft of Indigenous lands, to the Bracero Program that exploited Mexican labor, to today's corporate land grab, the story remains the same: the powerful take what they want from the powerless.

I call this the New Manifest Destiny—the belief that everything in the West exists to be extracted, commodified, and privatized for corporate profit. Our land, our water, our sacred sites, our communities—all just resources to be consumed.

But we are not resources. We are people. And this is our home.

The Path Forward: ¡Resistencia!

The Senate must vote on this reconciliation bill by July 4th—how's that for irony? While politicians talk about freedom and independence, they're plotting to sell our heritage to the highest bidder.

Here's what we must do:

Contact Your Senators Immediately: Call Senators Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema. Tell them that Arizona's public lands are not for sale. The Capitol switchboard is (202) 224-3121.
Organize Your Community: Reach out to your neighbors, hiking groups, and local church congregations. This threatens everyone who loves the desert.
Support Indigenous Land Rights: Stand with the Pascua Yaqui Tribe and other Indigenous communities fighting for land back. Their sovereignty is our collective liberation.
Show Up: When there are rallies, protests, or public meetings about this issue, be there. Power concedes nothing without a demand.
Vote in Every Election: From city council to Congress, vote for candidates who will protect our public lands and Indigenous rights.

The Bigger Picture

This fight is about more than land—it's about what kind of society we want to be. Do we want a West where a few wealthy elites own everything while working families are priced out and pushed aside? Or do we want a West where the mountains, deserts, and rivers belong to all of us?

The choice is ours, but only if we act.

Nuestra tierra, nuestra lucha. Our land, our fight.

A Note of Hope

Hermanos y hermanas, I know this news is overwhelming.

The scale of this assault on our public lands feels enormous, and sometimes it's easy to feel powerless against such massive corporate and political forces.

But remember: every acre of public land we still have exists because someone fought for it. The Grand Canyon was nearly mined. Saguaro National Park was almost developed. Our desert mountain parks in Tucson exist because generations of activists said "no" to those who wanted to commodify our landscape.

We are those activists now. We are the generation that must say "no" to the New Manifest Destiny.

The desert has taught us patience, resilience, and the power of deep roots. Like the mighty saguaro that can live for 200 years, our resistance must be built to last. Like the mesquite that can send roots down 150 feet to find water, we must dig deep into our communities to find the strength we need.

The corporate extractors and their political allies have money and power, but we have something more valuable: we have love. Love for this land, love for our communities, love for the generations that came before us and those that will come after.

That love is our weapon. That love is our shield. That love will win.

¡Viva la resistencia! ¡Viva Sonora! ¡Viva la tierra del pueblo!

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Join the conversation: What questions do you have about this public land sell-off? How is it affecting your favorite outdoor spaces? Leave a comment below and let's discuss how we can protect our shared heritage.