STATEMENT: CAP Denounces Elimination of Public Lands Conservation Requirements 

Washington, D.C. — Today, the Trump administration took action to eliminate the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) Public Lands Rule, which was issued in 2024 to provide long-overdue guideposts for conserving and stewarding the health of BLM public lands. Overseeing 245 million acres of public lands—more than three times as much public land as the National Park Service—the BLM is the largest land manager in the United States. The rescission of the rule leaves the BLM without comprehensive regulations for conserving natural resources across those lands.

In response, Drew McConville, senior fellow for conservation policy at the Center for American Progress, issued the following statement:

After gutting the staff and funding for America’s public lands, the Trump administration is now rigging the system so oil and gas CEOs and corporate insiders can call the shots. By eliminating basic conservation requirements for nearly 250 million acres of public lands, this action effectively gives drilling and mining priority over the long-term health of our lands and waters.

Additional resources:

• CAP Report on final Bureau of Land Management rules issued in 2024: 
  “New Public Lands Actions Turn the Page on Decades of Conflict and Mismanagement” by Drew McConville
• 2023 CAP Report on the Public Lands Rule: “What Biden’s Proposed Conservation Rule Would Mean for America’s Most Vulnerable Public Lands” by Drew McConville and Kara Matsumoto

For more information, or to talk to an expert, please contact Sam Hananel at [email protected].