A statewide roar
According to organisers, “thousands” of Wyomingites attended rallies in Pinedale, Sheridan, and Cheyenne on Thursday night. In protest of a congressional plan to sell off millions of acres of federal land, about 500 people crowded the steps of the Capitol in Cheyenne, brandishing homemade placards, fishing rods, and antlers.
‘Let’s boo that jackass’
In order to allow the crowd to chant, “This land is not for sale,” State Representative Karlee Provenza (D-Laramie) put Sen. John Barrasso’s voicemail on speakerphone. Then she joked:
“I’d like to thank Sen. Mike Lee for bringing us all together … I’m just kidding. Let’s boo that jackass.”
Notably, the audience was politically mixed. Conservative commentator Rod Miller asked fellow Republicans to raise their hands; dozens shot up, underscoring the issue’s cross-party appeal.
Why the anger?
The proposal: Utah Sen. Mike Lee’s budget amendment would force the Bureau of Land Management to auction 2–3 million acres within five miles of Western towns as a supposed housing fix.
Wyoming delegation: Protesters accuse Sens. John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis of quietly backing the idea. Speaker Nate Martin told the crowd Lummis once said “there’s too much public land in Wyoming.”
Economic stakes: Earlier this week 85 Wyoming businesses—from fly-shops to logging firms—signed a letter urging Barrasso and Lummis to reject any sell-off, calling public access “a critical component of Wyoming’s way of life.”
What follows?
The Utah senator insisted the sell-off effort is “just getting started,” despite the Senate parliamentarian having already rejected Lee’s initial draft for breaking budgetary regulations.In addition to calling on citizens to call Wyoming’s delegation “every single day until the bill is dead,” protest organisers are organising follow-up rallies for this weekend.
The turnout on Thursday indicates that public land sales in the Cowboy State are still political hotspots. Republican and Democratic hunters, ranchers, scientists, and small business owners all sent the same message: Wyoming’s open spaces are a natural right, not a line item. As the debate in Washington heats up, Sens. Barrasso and Lummis’ reputation back home may be determined by whether they take that warning seriously.
