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Yesterday was the final day of the 60-day public comment period for the Trump administration’s plan to rescind the Bureau of Land Management’s Conservation and Landscape Health Rule, more commonly known as the Public Lands Rule. A new analysis by the Center for Western Priorities found that 98 percent of public comments oppose the rule's rescission. Finalized in 2024, the rule put conservation, ecosystem restoration, and public access on equal footing with extractive uses like mining, drilling, and grazing, following through on the principle of “multiple use” as intended by the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976.
The Public Lands Rule has had broad public support since it was proposed during the Biden administration. During the public comment period for the proposed rule in 2023, CWP found that 92 percent of comments supported the rule.
“Westerners have once again spoken with one voice in support of our public lands,” said CWP's Deputy Director Aaron Weiss. “Conservation is a core use of our public lands, and everyone who lives, works, and recreates on and near public lands knows it.”
Nearly 60 legislators signed a letter to Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum yesterday in opposition to the proposed rule recission. The letter stated that “by providing an updated framework in which grazing, energy development, recreation, timber, wildlife, watershed protection and conservation can all be sustained together, the Public Lands Rule follows the law established by Congress almost 50 years ago and ensures that BLM lands continue to provide a balance of benefits for present and future generations.”
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People from all over the world come to experience our national parks and monuments because this country has been wise enough to preserve our magnificent landscapes, wildlife, and history. Yet here we are witnessing a deliberate effort to mismanage our national parks by depriving them of the very people and funding needed for their upkeep.”
