A Beautiful Land Sale Is a Boon for Families
June 25, 2025
A limited sale of federal lands that can be used for much-needed housing is long overdue (“America’s Big, Beautiful Land Sale,” Review & Outlook, June 20). The extension of neighborhoods into new territory is one of the best predictors of housing affordability in U.S. metro areas, and keeping market-rate housing accessible for young Americans is crucial for family formation. When cities are land-constrained, home prices skyrocket. Young people loiter in their parents’ basements, marry later and have fewer children. When land constraints are a product of physical barriers, little can be done. But when policy barriers, like liberal-favored urban growth boundaries or rings of federal landholdings around cities, constrain availability, the problem can be solved.
The Senate’s bill proposes to sell a trivial share of federal lands through a transparent process that gives states and localities say over how land sales proceed. It would also impose restrictive covenants forcing sales to be used for new neighborhoods. That’s as it should be. Nobody wants America’s pristine landscapes auctioned for elite hunting estates. Nor do citizens want localities stripped of federal land access that has been a basis of their commerce and tourism for generations.
