Trump Administration Cancels Rule that Made Conservation a 'Use' of Public Lands
The repeal would restore a development-first approach on Bureau of Land Management lands after industry groups and Republican allies urged action.
- On Tuesday, the Interior Department will publish the repeal of a 2024 conservation rule that placed restoration on equal footing with development, aligning with President Donald Trump's goal to boost drilling, logging, and mining on taxpayer-owned land.
- Interior Secretary Doug Burgum argued the rule violated the "multiple use" mandate by prioritizing "non-use" restoration leases, a position supported by Republicans in Congress and industry groups who lobbied for repeal.
- Overseeing about 10% of U.S. land, the Bureau of Land Management regulates more than 1 million square miles of underground mineral reserves and has a long history of industry-friendly grazing permits and oil leases.
- Amid a broader push to increase fossil fuel production, Republicans in Congress recently canceled land management plans from the end of President Joe Biden's term, reopening development in Alaska, Montana and North Dakota.
- The Trump administration claims renewable energy projects were unfairly subsidized under Biden, prioritizing traditional energy sources across Western states including Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, and California.
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Aspen Times
Vail DailyThe Bureau of Land Management kills 2-year-old conservation rule for public lands
The U.S. Department of the Interior has officially killed a two-year-old Bureau of Land Management rule that gave conservation the same priority as energy development, grazing, timber production, recreation and other uses on the federally managed land. The BLM’s Conservation and Landscape Health Rule, also known as the Public Lands Rule, was implemented in 2024 under former President Joe Biden. At the time, environmental advocacy groups and comm…
Interior Department Eliminates Rule That Made Conservation a Use of Public Lands
The Department of the Interior repealed a Biden-era regulation on May 11 that had placed conservation on par with drilling, mining, and grazing on roughly 245 million acres of federal public land. The 2024 rule allowed public property to be leased for restoration in the same way that oil companies lease land for drilling. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in September 2025 that the rule could have blocked access to hundreds of thousands of acr…
Trump Admin Repeals Land Conservation Rule
The Department of the Interior is canceling a rule that put conservation on equal footing with development, as President Donald Trump’s administration eases restrictions on industries and seeks to boost drilling, logging, mining, and grazing on taxpayer-owned land. The rule adopted in 2024 under the Biden administration was meant to refocus the Interior Department’s Bureau...
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