We are optimistic about an announcement by the U.S. departments of the Interior and Housing and Urban Development.

According to a report in The Hill, a Washington, D.C.-based newspaper and website, the two departments are launching a review of federal lands to determine which parcels of federally owned land could be sold and developed into housing.

While the project, if successful, would have little impact on our region or on Pennsylvania, the cost of housing is a national problem and the federal government’s extensive ownership of land in western states may offer a key to correcting it.

For X examples, more than 80% of all the land in Nevada is owned by the federal government. More than 60% of Idaho, more than 38% of Arizona and more than 36% of Colorado is owned by the federal government.

The one aspect in which selling this land — even at a low enough price to induce the construction of more housing — could benefit Americans in Pennsylvania and northeastern states is the potential use of revenues to reduce our alarming deficit.

According to the Bipartisan Policy Center, the U.S. is projected to have a $1.9 trillion deficit this year, adding to a national debt that already surpasses $36 trillion.

With more than 500 million acres in possession of the federal government, we believe this initiative could easily be pursued without compromising conservation or our national parks. We hope Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner are able to iron out the details in a way that benefits Americans who need affordable housing — which includes many Americans — and Americans who need the rate at which our country’s staggering debt is increasing to slow — which, we believe, includes all Americans.