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The Trump administration is moving to rescind two key Biden-era rules finalized by the Bureau of Land Management last year that advanced protections for millions of acres of public land across the West and Alaska. The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) posted a notice Tuesday that BLM’s public lands rule, which was implemented in June, is under formal review and has been marked for possible “rescission.” OIRA also posted that it is reviewing a BLM rule implemented last year that restricts oil and gas development in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A).
The rescission of both rules would affect the management of hundreds of millions of acres of public lands. The public lands rule—putting conservation on par with oil and gas drilling, mining, and other uses of the land—impacts 245 million acres managed by the BLM. The NPR-A rule restricts oil and gas development within the 23-million-acre reserve in northern Alaska. The rescission of the public lands rule flies in the face of public opinion. A Center for Western Priorities analysis found that 92% of public commenters supported the rule in 2023, and the 2025 Conservation in the West poll found that 72% of voters in eight Western states want the government to prioritize conservation over increased energy development on public lands.
“This is not policy—it's a blatant giveaway to industry that threatens to dismantle decades of conservation progress, shut down public access, harm wildlife, and accelerate the reckless sell-off of our natural resources,” said Alison Flint, senior legal director at The Wilderness Society.
Trump officials say destroying endangered species’ habitats isn’t ‘harm’
The Trump administration is proposing a rule excluding habitat destruction from the definition of activities that “harm” a plant or animal under the Endangered Species Act. The Endangered Species Act prohibits actions that “harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect” plants and animals on the verge of extinction. For decades, the definition of “harm” included any action significantly degrading endangered species habitat. But last year, the Supreme Court's decision to overturn the Chevron precedent reduced the power of federal agencies to issue regulations, and the Trump administration said the proposed rule is in line with that decision. Under the new rule, only actions that directly injure a particular animal, like shooting it, would be illegal.
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People aren’t going to stand for the complete erasure of some of the most iconic environmental legislation on Earth. Coloradans know the value wildlife and healthy ecosystems bring to our lives. Coupled with plans to sell off public lands, the Trump administration really is finding every possible lever they can pull to give corporations a free pass while ignoring the extinction and climate crisis.”
