In yet another attempt to erode public lands protections, the Trump administration has moved to repeal the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Public Lands Rule. If this proposal is finalized, the agency will revert to an unbalanced management approach that ignores conservation and prioritizes destructive drilling and mining on its 245-million-acre estate.
This is a transparent attempt to give our public lands away to the highest bidder. Once again, we need to tell the Trump administration that Americans don't want the future of our public lands sold off or sold out!
Finalized in 2024, the Public Lands Rule affirms that the BLM is Congressionally mandated to balance conservation with resource extraction in its land management practices. The rule's finalization was a major development that for the first time in the agency's history provided clear direction to balance conservation with development.
This repeal comes as public lands continue to struggle with the impacts of climate change and decades of management practices that favored development above all else—one analysis this year showed that about 81% of BLM lands are still open to drilling. Coming on the heels of devastating layoffs of land management staff and other Trump admin actions that strike protections, this move signals a grim future for public lands.
Polling has consistently shown that the vast majority of people want conservation of our public lands prioritized over drilling and mining. This repeal flies in the face of what the American people want—it's a corporate handout that will ravage our already vulnerable ecosystems.
Thank you for your advocacy and support.
Sincerely,
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