Lee and Rep. Celeste Maloy are defending the proposal after conservation groups launched campaigns to try to stop it

Republican Utah Sen. Mike Lee is working to reassure skeptics who worry that his proposal to sell certain federal lands for housing and community development would usher in a “mass sell-off” of natural wonders treasured by the public.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, faces opposition from environmentalists, conservatives, and fellow lawmakers, who claim that his proposal to sell federal land to address the housing crisis would endanger the nation’s most protected land.