David Schweikert wants Arizona’s public lands in private hands

Republican Rep. David Schweikert said he would sell off Arizona’s public lands if elected governor. He made these remarks in a March 5 podcast interview, but it’s an idea his donors have been pushing for more than 30 years.

Arizona has about 30 million acres of public land, covering about half the state. Much of this land consists of conservation areas that double as parks or protected forests. Large corporations have expressed interest in purchasing these lands for various uses, including oil and gas development and luxury real estate.

“The state just has to sort of set a rational, fair way to get these [lands] in private hands so we actually have economic opportunity,” Schweikert said.

The Arizona Wildlife Federation, a nonprofit dedicated to land conservation, opposes this idea, warning that it would adversely affect wildlife and the state’s tourism economy.

“Pressures to maximize revenues or monetize these lands result in fragmented habitats that no longer provide the necessary connections and corridors, or sufficient food, water, and shelter for wildlife,” the group says on its website. “Once developed, there’s no turning back.”

Two of the largest entities pushing for these sales have been Koch Industries and the National Association of Realtors, both of which have provided extensive financial support to Schweikert’s political campaigns, including his first run for the Arizona House of Representatives in 1994.

In total, the National Association of Realtors has given Schweikert $65,000 over the course of his political career. Koch Industries has given him more than $42,000.

Schweikert, who has been in Congress for more than 15 years, has repeatedly voted against protecting public lands from private and corporate interests. This includes three votes against the Protect America’s Wilderness and Public Lands Act, which would have explicitly protected federal lands in Arizona, Colorado, California, and Washington from gas and mineral extraction. The bill named the Grand Canyon as one of the protected areas.

The bill passed the House in 2021 with bipartisan support but was blocked from becoming law by Senate Republicans.

In 2019, Schweikert voted twice against prohibiting mining on public lands, moves that left both the Grand Canyon and the Chaco Culture National Historical Park vulnerable to extraction.

In 2017, Schweikert opposed a bipartisan amendment to an appropriations bill that would have blocked public lands from being sold or leased to private buyers. The amendment did not pass.

Schweikert launched his campaign challenging incumbent Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs last year. He is competing in a primary against fellow Republican Rep. Andy Biggs, who is also a proponent of selling off public lands.

Hobbs has made land conservation a centerpiece of her governorship. Last year, she came out against a provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB) that would have sold off millions of acres of public lands in western states.

“Arizona is not for sale,” Hobbs wrote on Facebook. “The plan to sell public lands threatens over 14 million acres in Arizona, including treasured places like Mount Lemmon, Sabino Canyon, the sacred San Francisco Peaks, Horton Creek along the Mogollon Rim, Cathedral Rock in Sedona, Saguaro Lake, and Madera Canyon is reckless, shortsighted, and deeply out of step with Arizonans’ values.”

Schweikert was a proud supporter of OBBB. Nearly three-in-five Arizona voters polled by Colorado College last year said they opposed the law’s rollback of land protections.