Trump Administration Moves to Repeal Landmark Public Lands Rule
Plan would erase conservation as a core requirement for managing America’s 245 million acres of public lands.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of the Interior proposed repealing the Bureau of Land Management’s Public Lands Rule, a landmark safeguard that ensures conservation is considered alongside mining, drilling, timber, and grazing across 245 million acres of public lands. The rule was finalized just last year after extensive public input, with more than 90 percent of commenters in support.
The repeal signals the administration’s intent to dismantle commonsense protections and hand public lands over to unchecked industrial development.
Following is a statement from Bobby McEnaney, director of land conservation at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council):
“Eliminating this rule is a dangerous step backward that puts endangered wildlife, rural communities, and clean drinking water at risk. The Bureau of Land Management is supposed to think about more than just mining, timber, and oil and gas development. By moving to dump the Public Lands Rule, it is trying to jettison a critical mechanism that helps to ensure that conservation is on equal footing.
“This is an administration that would rather sell off the nation’s public lands for shortsighted profit than honor its duty to ensure long-term sustainable use. By abandoning conservation as a key tenet of land management, the administration is rejecting the overwhelming public support for protecting the public lands we all treasure.”
Background:
The Public Lands Rule modernizes the Bureau of Land Management’s outdated management framework by recognizing that the law puts conservation values on the same footing as energy extraction, grazing, and mining. It strengthens tools to address climate change, safeguard wildlife habitat and watersheds, incorporate Indigenous knowledge, and manage lands sustainably for future generations.
Outdoor recreation, which depends on healthy public lands, generates more than $1.2 trillion in economic output annually—far outpacing oil, gas, and mining. The administration’s move to repeal the rule threatens this economic engine while prioritizing short-term corporate profits over long-term land stewardship.
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).