Interior Department proposes to rescind ‘Public Lands Rule’
The Department of the Interior is proposing to rescind the Bureau of Land Management’s Public Lands Rule, aligning with Secretary Doug Burgum’s commitment to restoring balance in federal land management by prioritizing multiple-use access, empowering local decision-making and supporting responsible energy development, ranching, grazing, timber production and recreation across America’s public lands.
The 2024 Public Lands Rule, formally known as the Conservation and Landscape Health Rule, made “conservation” (i.e., no use) an official use of public lands, putting it on the same level as BLM’s other uses of public lands. The previous administration had treated conservation as “no use,” meaning the land was to be left idle rather than authorizing legitimate uses of the land like grazing, energy development or recreation. However, stakeholders, including the energy industry, recreational users and agricultural producers, across the country expressed deep concern that the rule created regulatory uncertainty, reduced access to lands, and undermined the long-standing multiple-use mandate of the BLM as established by Congress. Now, the BLM proposes to rescind this rule in full.
“The previous administration’s Public Lands Rule had the potential to block access to hundreds of thousands of acres of multiple-use land – preventing energy and mineral production, timber management, grazing and recreation across the West,” said Secretary Doug Burgum. “The most effective caretakers of our federal lands are those whose livelihoods rely on its well-being. Overturning this rule protects our American way of life and gives our communities a voice in the land that they depend on.”
The Public Lands Rule exceeded the BLM’s statutory authority by placing an outsized priority on conservation or no-use at the expense of multiple-use access, threatening to curtail grazing, energy development, recreation and other traditional land uses. Many rural communities depend on public lands for livelihoods tied to agriculture, mining and energy production. Rescinding the rule restores BLM to its legal mandate and protects these economic drivers from restrictive land-use policies. The people who depend on public lands for their livelihoods have every incentive to conserve them and have been doing so for generations—no new rule was needed to force what is already a way of life.
By proposing to roll back the Public Lands Rule, Interior is committed to no longer sidelining local voices by returning more authority back to states, counties and tribes who are directly impacted by the management of public lands. Additionally, rescinding the rule eliminates uncertainty for industry stakeholders concerning potential litigation risks and permitting delays. Consistent with Secretary’s Order 3418, “Unleashing American Energy,” the rescission of the Public Lands Rule will eliminate unnecessary barriers to energy development and support the multiple-use mandate of the BLM by not prioritizing conservation over all other uses.
From the date that the Federal Register notice publishes, a 60-day comment period will open on the proposed rule rescission.
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and Public Lands Council originally sued BLM over this rule in July of 2024 and were joined in this suit by the American Farm Bureau Federation, American Exploration and Mining Association, American Forest Resource Council, American Petroleum Institute, American Sheep Industry Association, National Mining Association, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, Natrona County Farm and Ranch Bureau, Western Energy Alliance, and Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation, said an NCBA news release.
“It is well known that public lands grazing supports a healthy ecosystem and reduces the risk of catastrophic wildfires,” said PLC President and Colorado grazing permittee Tim Canterbury in the NCBA news release. “As permittees, we saw the rule’s clear intent: to remove us from our allotments and turn these lands into an unmanaged, unhealthy, unproductive liability. Ranchers across the West are thankful for the commonsense approach of the Trump administration to delete this rule from federal law and bring certainty back to ranchers and rural communities.”
The Montana Stockgrowers Association called the DOI’s announcement a “major victory” and credited outspoken ranchers who voiced concern over the rule.
“Today’s announcement showcases the power of grassroots advocacy, ” stated Raylee Honeycutt, MSGA Executive Vice President. “MSGA is appreciative of the Trump Administration’s willingness to listen to American public lands ranchers and rescind this harmful Public Lands Rule,” she said in a news release.
–DOI, NCBA and MSGA
