Public Lands Sale FOIA Violations

January 6, 2026 — Representing The Wilderness Society, Advocates for the West filed a federal lawsuit seeking to compel the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to release records related to a joint federal initiative targeting the sale of public lands for private development and housing.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, stems from the agencies’ failure to provide records, as required by the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), requested in July 2025. Those requests relate to a DOI–HUD joint task force announced in March 2025.

Media reports and agency statements indicate that BLM was studying the potential sale of approximately 400,000 acres of federal land. However, the agencies have provided little to no information to the public about the task force’s activities, decision-making process, or communications with outside entities, including developers, local governments, and advocacy organizations.

Efforts to privatize public lands are at odds with the overwhelming majority of the public, who support keeping public lands in public hands. Surveys consistently find overwhelming, bipartisan support for public lands in western states, with high percentages of voters favoring conservation, wildlife protection, and preventing federal lands from being sold or reduced.

Advocates for the West submitted FOIA requests to DOI, BLM, HUD, and DOI’s Appraisal and Valuation Services Office seeking communications and other records related to potential land disposals. More than six months have passed without required FOIA determinations or document production. BLM responded by stating it had no responsive records—a claim we dispute given the agency’s public acknowledgment of its role in evaluating land sales.

As a result, Advocates for the West and The Wilderness Society have been unable to inform the public about federal actions that could affect the future of public lands. The lawsuit asks the Court to order the prompt release of all non-exempt records related to the task force and associated land-sale efforts to protect the public interest.