Trump administration repeals public lands conservation rule

the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced Monday that it will completely rescind the Public Lands Rule, a Biden-era policy that recognized conservation as a designated “use” of public lands on equal footing with extractive uses like mining and grazing. Implemented in May 2024, the rule applied to the 245 million acres of public lands managed by the BLM.

The measure was announced on Monday in the Federal Register and finished yesterday. «This action restores balance to federal land management under the principles of multiple use and sustained yield by prioritizing access, empowering local decision-making, and aligning BLM implementing regulations with legal requirements and national energy policy,» the agency wrote.

Conservation and outdoor recreation advocates have criticized the measure as short-sighted. «The Public Lands Rule was a long-awaited effort to modernize the way the Bureau of Land Management approaches conservation, recreation and development on public lands,» said Adam Cramer, executive director of Outdoor Allianceone of the organizations that pushed for the standard to be implemented in 2024.

«Rescinding it is a missed opportunity to manage public lands with the precision and balance these landscapes deserve. Instead of recognizing that together we can have thriving recreation, healthy landscapes, and responsible development, the administration decided to take a time machine back to the late 19th century, putting extraction first at the expense of the wealth of input, knowledge, and experience of local communities and recreationists,» Cramer also said in a news release from the Outdoor Alliance.

While BLM has historically leased lands for extractive uses, the Public Lands Rule gave the agency the power to also lease them for ecosystem restoration and offsetting environmental degradation. However, it is worth noting that the BLM had not yet issued any such leases before the rule was rescinded this week.

The agency will now return to a multi-use land management framework that prioritizes energy development, grazing and mining.

Featured image: Kevin Dooley

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