Interior Department Moves to Dismantle Landmark Public Lands Conservation Rule

WASHINGTON, D.C.  — The U.S. Department of the Interior is taking steps to repeal the Bureau of Land Management’s Public Lands Rule and eliminate key protections for 13 million acres in the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska. These moves threaten to unravel critical conservation safeguards across some of the most ecologically important public lands in the country.

Following is a reaction from Bobby McEnaney, director of land conservation at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council):  

“The administration is rushing to strip protections from our public lands and open them up to unchecked industrial development. The public lands rule recognizes that conservation should be considered along with other uses of public lands, like mining, timber, and oil and gas development. Tearing it down is a dangerous step backward that puts the fossil fuel industry ahead of communities, wildlife, and future generations.”

“This is not land management—it’s a liquidation. By rolling back conservation as a core consideration for how public lands are managed, the Interior is signaling that even our most iconic landscapes are for sale. These attacks aren’t just shortsighted, they are out of step with the overwhelming public support for protecting the public lands we all treasure.”

NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, law and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd).