BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — More than 2 million acres of federal lands would be sold or transferred to states or other entities under a budget proposal from Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee, reviving a longtime ambition of some to cede lands to local control after a similar proposal failed in the House.

Lee, who chairs the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, included a mandate for the sales in a draft provision of the GOP’s sweeping tax cut package.

Most public lands are in Western states. In some, such as Utah and Nevada, the government controls the vast majority of lands, protecting them from potential exploitation but hindering growth.

Lee’s proposal does not specify what properties would be sold. It directs the secretaries of Interior and Agriculture to sell or transfer at least 0.5 percent and up to 0.75 percent of U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management holdings. That equals at least 2.2 million acres and up to 3.3 million acres.

The Republican said in a video released by his office that the sales would not include national parks, national monuments or wilderness. They would instead target “isolated parcels” that could be used for housing or infrastructure, he said.

“Washington has proven time and again it can’t manage this land. This bill puts it in better hands,” Lee said.