Center for American Progress

New Public Lands Actions Turn the Page on Decades of Conflict and Mismanagement
Report

New Public Lands Actions Turn the Page on Decades of Conflict and Mismanagement

Complementary new policies from the Biden administration will ensure conservation, energy development, and recreation go hand in hand.

In this article
Photo shows a small group of people hiking among tall, pastel orange rock formations against a blue sky with some puffy white clouds
Hikers walk the main loop trail at Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument in Cochiti Pueblo, New Mexico, October 2018. (Getty/Maddie Meyer for Lumix)

Under the leadership of President Joe Biden and Secretary Deb Haaland, the U.S. Department of the Interior is taking important steps to turn the corner on a long history of conflict and mismanagement of nearly 250 million acres of America’s public lands.1 While some of these measures from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)—the largest land manager in the United States2—have garnered attention, their actual collective impact is underappreciated. Key actions include the BLM’s foundational new Public Lands Rule, as well as new policies supporting responsible clean energy growth, updated oil and gas requirements, and a new framework to better support outdoor recreation and visitation. Together, this set of commonsense but long-overdue actions will update the BLM’s public lands oversight role to fit the modern era, enabling the agency to responsibly steward public lands, waters, and wildlife for the long haul; meet the nation’s clean energy needs; expand outdoor recreation opportunities; and support rural economies.

The BLM’s new framework offers the agency a chance to trade a legacy of conflict and mismanagement for a future that harnesses the many opportunities offered by our public lands for the long-term benefit of the country.

A history of conflict

Despite some notable progress, including the establishment of new national monuments and the National Conservation Lands system to manage the BLM’s crown jewels,3 the past few decades have been riddled with controversy and bad decisions across the Western lands overseen by the agency. Again and again, the BLM has put public lands with outstanding wildlife habitat, cultural and historic resources, and prized recreational opportunities on the auction block for oil and gas leasing, with millions of acres already leased and millions more still available for leasing.4

Controversial actions to lease public lands were commonplace throughout the early and mid-2000s. These included a decision to greenlight drilling on lands along Montana’s Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument in 2002,5 leases sold in Colorado’s Thompson Divide in 2003 and 2004,6 New Mexico’s Otero Mesa opened to drilling in 2004 and leases sold in 2005,7 leasing of lands relied on for drinking water by Grand Junction and Palisade, Colorado, in 2006,8 proposed leasing of Colorado’s Vermillion Basin in 2007,9 and a notorious lease sale in 2008 that offered and sold leases in Utah near Arches and Canyonlands national parks, Dinosaur National Monument, and other well-known red-rock canyon lands.10

This legacy of bad decisions reflects a system dramatically skewed in favor of oil and gas drilling and mining, at the expense of biodiversity and land health, recreational access, traditional and cultural use by Native American communities, and clean energy development.

Although the story changed notably during the Obama administration, bad leasing proposals continued to pop up from the BLM during that time. Those included proposed lease sales near Mesa Verde National Park and Dinosaur National Monument in Colorado and in the Nine Mile Canyon and Desolation Canyon region in Utah,11 which were both eventually shelved.

Later, then-President Donald Trump’s proclaimed “energy dominance” agenda dramatically accelerated the pace of reckless leasing and drilling. By fall 2020, more than 50 million acres of federal lands were opened to drilling in draft or newly finalized plans, and more than 24 million acres had been offered for lease to the oil and gas industry by the Trump administration.12 Among the public lands leased or proposed for auction were places treasured for their ecological, cultural and historic, or recreational value, including the following:

  • Arizona: near Petrified Forest National Park13
  • Colorado: near Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve14
  • Nevada: near Great Basin National Park and the Ruby Mountains15
  • New Mexico: near Carlsbad Caverns National Park16
  • North Dakota: near Theodore Roosevelt National Park17
  • Utah: near Bears Ears and Hovenweep national monuments, other archaeologically rich canyonlands, and the popular Slickrock trail18
  • Wyoming: near Fort Laramie National Historic Site and in the critical Red Desert to Hoback migration corridor19

77%

Percentage of valuable federal renewable energy lands in the West that are in areas with low oil and gas potential but are still prioritized for oil and gas leasing

This legacy of bad decisions reflects a system dramatically skewed in favor of oil and gas drilling and mining, at the expense of biodiversity and land health, recreational access, traditional and cultural use by Native American communities, and clean energy development. The BLM has left the vast majority of its lands available, by default, to the oil and gas industry for leasing,20 while mining companies can stake claims across most federal lands without paying royalties and can hold them indefinitely.21 In fact, a 2022 Center for American Progress analysis found that while 77 percent of high-value federal land for renewable energy development in the West had low oil and gas potential, those lands were nonetheless managed to prioritize oil and gas over renewable energy or other uses.22

Clean energy, land conservation, and outdoor recreation go hand in hand

With sustainable energy solutions widely available and a growing recognition that the health of our lands, economies, and communities is intertwined, public land management decisions today should not be a zero sum game; decisions about building clean energy projects, expanding outdoor recreation opportunities, and conserving and restoring lands can, and must, go hand in hand.

Clean energy and conservation

As the climate crisis threatens every corner of the United States,23 the public is demanding a rapid transition away from fossil fuels to cleaner energy that is better for the planet and communities. But succeeding with the massive build-out of clean energy generation and transmission needed to turn the tide of the climate crisis will require the renewables industry to earn and maintain public trust.

Most people in the United States have a favorable opinion about renewable energy, with recent polling finding that two-thirds of U.S. adults support efforts to prioritize wind, solar, and hydrogen over fossil fuel production.24 But the recent success of disinformation campaigns aimed at discrediting renewables, including many efforts tied to the fossil fuel industry, shows how sensitive public opinion can be to questions about the environmental benefits of renewable energy.25

In addition to rebutting false information, clean energy companies and supporters can embrace opportunities to actively demonstrate that renewables and healthy lands, waters, and wildlife can go hand in hand. Along with voluntary efforts to establish common ground between industry and community groups,26 a clear framework that integrates conservation and clean energy build-out on U.S. public lands can help build public confidence.

A clear framework that integrates conservation and clean energy build-out on U.S. public lands can help build public confidence.

Recreation and conservation

Meanwhile, outdoor recreation interests have long recognized that conserving and stewarding public lands and waters is critical to their industries and to the more than 168 million people who enjoy America’s outdoors each year.27 Recently, record levels of outdoor recreation nationwide have been accompanied by a dramatic increase in visitation to BLM lands, with a jump of nearly 40 percent in recorded visits between 2012 and 2022.28 Outdoor businesses and recreation user groups have strongly supported the agency’s proposed Public Lands Rule because of the importance of healthy, conserved public lands for the future of outdoor recreation.29

A 2023 CAP report found substantial opportunity for conserving vulnerable BLM lands to help meet demands for outdoor recreation, relieve overcrowding in national and state parks, and address gaps in nature access for communities with the greatest needs.30 That analysis identified more than 50 million acres of unprotected BLM lands within close proximity (25 miles or less) of a national or state park, as well as 20 million acres of unprotected BLM lands very close (10 miles or less) to the nation’s most nature-deprived and socially vulnerable areas.

Read the report

Package of new public lands actions from BLM

A suite of new actions by the BLM will bring public lands management into the modern era. New rules and policies will provide the agency with long-overdue direction to conserve healthy lands, waters, and wildlife populations, while promoting responsible clean energy development on public lands, updating requirements for oil and gas companies, and investing wisely to sustain outdoor recreation growth.

Conservation and long-term health of lands, waters, and wildlife

The lynchpin of the BLM’s modernization effort is its Public Lands Rule, which is aimed at guaranteeing the long-term health of the lands and waters the agency stewards. Healthy public lands and waters will provide the foundation for a future in which outdoor recreation, cleaner energy, wildlife populations, and communities thrive. But climate change, reckless development decisions, and management conflicts will threaten that foundation if comprehensive conservation regulations are not on the books.

The just-finalized Public Lands Rule will finally make conservation more than an afterthought for the managers of nearly 250 million acres of public lands.31 Under the new rule, commonsense guidelines for conserving natural resources replace biased decision-making that favored extractive use, ensuring greater balance and reducing conflict.

 

Learn more

The rule also directs the agency to conserve the most ecologically important lands, such as wildlife migration corridors. Moreover, it makes sure community—and Tribe-led—conservation proposals get fair consideration and are not easily washed away by changing political tides; it also requires the agency to incorporate Indigenous knowledge and explore opportunities for Tribal co-stewardship.

Additionally, the rule helps wisely target ecosystem restoration work—such as projects funded through the bipartisan infrastructure law and Inflation Reduction Act32—and encourages additional, voluntary investments by formalizing tools that the BLM calls “restoration and mitigation leasing.” As explored in a 2023 CAP report, mitigation leasing could be a win-win, allowing clean energy project developers to offset unavoidable damages more cost effectively and delivering more direct benefits for affected wildlife and other resources.33

Read more on conservation leasing

Clean energy development

Complementing the Public Lands Rule—which finally creates a rational framework for conservation to help reduce conflict and restore public confidence—the BLM is prioritizing the following actions to rapidly and responsibly deploy clean energy on public lands, which is desperately needed to stem the climate crisis:

  • Finalizing a renewable energy rule: The BLM finalized a rule on April 11, 2024, to promote wind and solar development on public lands by lowering rents and fees, streamlining permit review, and making it easier for companies to secure leases within designated areas to further incentivize projects that locate in areas with fewer natural resource conflicts.34 The rule will reduce capacity fees for wind and solar projects by 80 percent,35 building on rental and fee reductions initially instituted by guidance in 2022.36
  • Updating the western solar plan: The BLM is also completing updates to the agency’s Western Solar Plan, also called the solar programmatic environmental impact statement.37 Through proactive, regionwide planning for new utility-scale solar energy development, the BLM intends to make project permitting more efficient and direct development to the most appropriate areas, avoiding conflicts with sensitive wildlife habitat and other public lands uses and resources, while taking advantage of available energy transmission. The proposed plan would prioritize substantially more land for solar energy development and expand the scope of the original 2012 Western Solar Plan from six states to 11.

This “smart from the start” approach to responsible clean energy expansion is a far cry from the flawed legacy of fossil fuel leasing and mineral claims described earlier, particularly when paired with commonsense conservation rules that ensure the long-term health of public lands.38

Accompanying these new policies, the Department of the Interior recently announced that it had smashed through its goal of permitting 25 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2025, more than doubling the projects approved by the Trump administration.39 The Interior Department’s efforts to responsibly accelerate clean energy on public lands included standing up new renewable energy coordination offices to consider applications and expediting coordination and decision-making across federal agencies.40

Oil and gas leasing and drilling

At the same time, the BLM is taking critical and overdue steps to modernize regulations for oil and gas leasing and development:

  • Issuing a waste prevention rule: Final regulations released in late March 2024 will reduce wasted gas from oil and gas operations on federal and Tribal lands.41 The commonsense rule, which complements Environmental Protection Agency’s recently finalized methane rules, requires oil and gas operators to reduce venting and flaring of natural gas, submit plans to find and fix leaks, and pay royalties to compensate the public for wasted gas.42 The BLM estimates the rule will generate more than $50 million per year in additional royalties.43
  • Finalizing an onshore oil and gas leasing rule: The BLM also finalized reforms to antiquated requirements for oil and gas leasing of federal lands on April 12, 2024.44 Among other commonsense improvements, the rule increases bonding rates so oil and gas companies must pay to clean up their own messes; ensures a more fair return to taxpayers by raising rates and fees to more closely align with levels charged by many states; and steers new leasing away from important wildlife habitat or cultural sites.

Recreation and visitation

Actions to conserve high-value lands, identify low-conflict opportunities for clean energy projects, and address oil and gas problems dovetail with the BLM’s recently finalized strategy for outdoor recreation. Released in August 2023, the agency’s Blueprint for 21st Century Outdoor Recreation aims to shift the agency to a more proactive approach for managing recreation opportunities.45 Notably, the BLM’s vision acknowledges the importance of building a culture of inclusion and expanding opportunities for underserved and underrepresented communities. The blueprint also commits to aligning its recreation management with its stewardship of sensitive cultural and natural resources, including through improved engagement and enhanced co-stewardship with Tribes.

A dominant theme of the blueprint is the need for deeper and more intentional investment in the agency’s recreation assets and opportunities. With outdoor recreation contributing nearly three times more to the U.S. economy in 2022 than oil, gas, and coal development, that seems like a wise economic decision.46

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Conclusion

Under the leadership of Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning, the Bureau of Land Management is completing an ambitious task: establishing a coherent framework to manage public lands for the modern era. It’s undoubtedly a lot to take on at once—and that’s not even mentioning most of the agency’s notable work to reset the Interior Department’s relationship with Tribal nations.47

But by crafting these policies together, the BLM is weaving together something greater than the sum of its parts. Indeed, the BLM’s new framework offers the agency a chance to trade a legacy of conflict and mismanagement for a future that harnesses the many opportunities offered by our public lands for the long-term benefit of the country. On the flip side, eliminating key pieces of that framework—as Rep. John Curtis’ (R-UT) H.R. 3397 and Sen. John Barrasso’s (R-WY) S. 1435 attempt to do with the Public Lands Rule48—would jeopardize a more promising future for the clean energy industry and other public lands beneficiaries.

To be clear, change will not happen immediately, and conflicts will not disappear. Implementation will take resources and, most importantly, sustained commitment by both government and nongovernment leaders. But thanks to these new steps, the BLM will have at least put firm stakes in the ground on a management framework that community leaders, Tribes, conservationists, recreation advocates, and energy companies alike should finally be able to come together around.

The author would like to thank CAP colleagues Nicole Gentile, Sam Zeno, Shanée Simhoni, and Steve Bonitatibus, as well as other partners who provided their feedback and input.

Endnotes

  1. U.S. Bureau of Land Management, “What We Manage Nationally,” available at https://www.blm.gov/about/what-we-manage/national (last accessed April 2024).
  2. U.S. Bureau of Land Management, “About Us,” available at https://www.blm.gov/about (last accessed April 2024).
  3. U.S. Bureau of Land Management, “National Conservation Lands,” available at https://www.blm.gov/programs/national-conservation-lands (last accessed April 2024).
  4. U.S. Bureau of Land Management, “About the BLM Oil and Gas Program,” available at https://www.blm.gov/programs/energy-and-minerals/oil-and-gas/about (last accessed April 2024).
  5. Jim Robbins, “Agency Backs Gas Drilling at New National Monument,” The New York Times, January 22, 2002, available at https://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/22/us/agency-backs-gas-drilling-at-new-national-monument.html.
  6. The Associated Press, “BLM suspends 25 oil, gas leases in Thompson Divide,” The Denver Post, April 9, 2013, available at https://www.denverpost.com/2013/04/09/blm-suspends-25-oil-gas-leases-in-thompson-divide/.
  7. New Mexico Wilderness Alliance and others, “BLM Steamrolls Public on Otero Mesa,” Press release, September 29, 2005, available at https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news-release/blm-steamrolls-public-otero-mesa; April Reese, “First Otero Mesa lease sale gets one bid,” Greenwire, July 28, 2005, available at https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2005/07/28/first-otero-mesa-lease-sale-gets-one-bid-239742.
  8. Jodi Peterson, “The anatomy of an energy lease,” High Country News, September 4, 2006, available at https://www.hcn.org/issues/issue-329/the-anatomy-of-an-energy-lease/.
  9. Dennis Webb, “BLM drops drilling proposal for Vermillion Basin near Craig,” The Daily Sentinel, June 30, 2010, available at https://www.gjsentinel.com/news/western_colorado/blm-drops-drilling-proposal-for-vermillion-basin-near-craig/article_a863823f-92d1-5707-92f2-075fe7952413.html.
  10. U.S. Department of the Interior, “Report to Secretary Ken Salazar Regarding the Potential Leasing of 77 Parcels in Utah,” available at https://www.doi.gov/node/11113 (last accessed April 2024).
  11. Checks and Balances Project, “Public outcry and action help hold off drilling near Mesa Verde National Park and Dinosaur National Monument,” February 8, 2013, available at https://checksandbalancesproject.org/public-outcry-and-action-help-hold-off-drilling-near-mesa-verde-national-park-and-dinosaur-national-monument/; Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, “Historic Preservation Groups, Native American Tribe and Conservationists Protest BLM Proposed Lease Sale in Nine Mile Canyon and Desolation Canyon Proposed Wilderness,” Press release, November 29, 2016, available at https://suwa.org/press-release-historic-preservation-groups-native-american-tribe-conservationists-protest-proposed-blm-lease-sale-nine-mile-canyon-desolation-canyon-proposed-wilderness/.
  12. The Wilderness Society Action Fund, “The impact of President Trump’s energy dominance agenda,” October 26, 2020, available at https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/417110924baa4f57896165e3f5e96a11.
  13. Eastern Arizona Courier, “BLM land auction opens acres to oil and gas companies,” September 10, 2018, available at https://www.eacourier.com/copper_era/news/blm-land-auction-opens-acres-to-oil-and-gas-companies/article_45fb7cac-b4b0-11e8-a862-c30aeec4ea3f.html.
  14. Bruce Finley, “Feds back off push to open land near Sangre de Cristo Wilderness, Great Sand Dunes for oil and gas development,” The Denver Post, July 10, 2018, available at https://www.denverpost.com/2018/07/10/sangre-de-cristo-wilderness-oli-gas/.
  15. Robin Bravender, “Cortez Masto urges BLM to rethink Nevada drilling leases,” Nevada Current, November 5, 2019, available at https://nevadacurrent.com/briefs/cortez-masto-urges-blm-to-rethink-nevada-drilling-leases/.
  16. Adrian Hedden, “Drilling at Carlsbad Caverns: BLM proposes lease sale of land near national park,” Carlsbad Current Argus, April 26, 2018, available at https://www.currentargus.com/story/news/local/2018/04/26/blm-drilling-lease-sale-land-carlsbad-caverns-national-park/551140002/.
  17. National Parks Conservation Association and The Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks, “Coalition Comments on Proposed Oil and Gas Leasing Near Theodore Roosevelt National Park,” October 29, 2017, available at https://protectnps.org/2017/11/01/coalition-comments-on-proposed-oil-and-gas-leasing-near-theodore-roosevelt-np/.
  18. Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, “BLM Announces Intention to Sell Oil, Gas Leases Next to Bears Ears National Monument and on Culturally and Ecologically Significant Federal Public Lands,” Press release, September 21, 2017, available at https://suwa.org/blm-announces-intention-sell-oil-gas-leases-next-bears-ears-national-monument-culturally-ecologically-significant-federal-public-lands/; National Parks Conservation Association, “Leasing Our Legacy: Lands Near Hovenweep National Monument Sold to Oil and Gas Bidders,” Press release, September 11, 2019, available at https://www.npca.org/articles/2303-leasing-our-legacy-lands-near-hovenweep-national-monument-sold-to-oil-and; Brian Maffly, “Feds to sell oil and gas leases in San Juan County cultural areas, ignoring pleas from tribal officials and others,” The Salt Lake Tribune, September 6, 2019, available at https://www.sltrib.com/news/environment/2019/09/06/feds-sell-oil-gas-leases/; Brian Maffly, “Feds propose oil and gas leasing on Moab’s Slickrock trail,” The Salt Lake Tribune, January 23, 2020, available at https://www.sltrib.com/news/environment/2020/01/23/feds-propose-oil-gas/.
  19. Colby Ochsner, “Allowing oil and gas development near Fort Laramie is a mistake,” Casper Star Tribune, April 13, 2018 (updated May 20, 2018), available https://trib.com/ochsner-allowing-oil-and-gas-development-near-fort-laramie-is-a-mistake/article_449c7bd5-822d-5bd1-a466-360d80550393.html; National Audubon Society and others, “Protest of the September 18-20, 2018 Competitive Oil and Natural Gas Lease Sale of the BLM Wyoming State Office,” August 11, 2018, available at https://wyomingoutdoorcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/WOC-Protest-BLM-2018_3Q-lease-sales.pdf.
  20. The Wilderness Society, “Open for business (and not much else): Analysis shows oil and gas leasing out of whack on BLM lands,” available at https://www.wilderness.org/articles/article/open-business-and-not-much-else-analysis-shows-oil-and-gas-leasing-out-whack-blm-lands (last accessed April 2024).
  21. U.S. Government Accountability Office, “Federal Lands Snapshot: Hardrock Mining Systems” (Washington: 2021), available at https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-22-105438.pdf; U.S. Government Accountability Office, “Hardrock Mining on Federal Lands,” available at https://www.gao.gov/hardrock-mining-federal-lands (last accessed April 2024).
  22. Jenny Rowland-Shea and Zainab Mirza, “The Oil Industry’s Grip on Public Lands and Waters May Be Slowing Progress Toward Energy Independence” (Washington: Center for American Progress, 2022), available at https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-oil-industrys-grip-on-public-lands-and-waters-may-be-slowing-progress-toward-energy-independence/.
  23. U.S. Global Change Research Program, “The Fifth National Climate Assessment,” available at https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/ (last accessed April 2024).
  24. Brian Kennedy, Cary Funk, and Alec Tyson, “Majorities of Americans Prioritize Renewable Energy, Back Steps to Address Climate Change” (Washington: Pew Research Center, 2023), available at https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2023/06/28/majorities-of-americans-prioritize-renewable-energy-back-steps-to-address-climate-change/.
  25. Julia Simon, “Misinformation is derailing renewable energy projects across the United States,” NPR, March 28, 2022, available at https://www.npr.org/2022/03/28/1086790531/renewable-energy-projects-wind-energy-solar-energy-climate-change-misinformation; Mariel Lutz and Jenny Rowland-Shea, “The Oil and Gas Industry Is Behind Offshore Wind Misinformation,” Center for American Progress, December 11, 2023, available at https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-oil-and-gas-industry-is-behind-offshore-wind-misinformation/.
  26. See, for example, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, “Uncommon Dialogue: Large-Scale U.S. Solar Development: Integrating Climate, Conservation and Community,” available at https://woods.stanford.edu/research/solar-landconservation (last accessed June 2024).
  27. Outdoor Industry Association, “2023 Outdoor Participation Trends Report,” available at https://outdoorindustry.org/resource/2023-outdoor-participation-trends-report/ (last accessed April 2024).
  28. U.S. Bureau of Land Management, “The Bureau of Land Management’s Blueprint for 21st Century Outdoor Recreation” (Washington: 2023), available at https://www.blm.gov/sites/default/files/docs/2023-08/Blueprint%20for%2021st%20Century%20Outdoor%20Recreation508.pdf.
  29. The Conservation Alliance, “Bureau of Land Management Public Lands Rule,” available at https://conservationalliance.com/priority-campaign/bureau-of-land-management-public-lands-rule/ (last accessed April 2024); Outdoor Alliance, “BLM Public Lands Rule Would Benefit Outdoor Recreation and Conservation,” May 30, 2023, available at https://www.outdooralliance.org/blog/2023/5/30/blms-public-lands-rule-would-benefit-outdoor-recreation-and-conservation.
  30. Drew McConville and Sam Zeno, “Protecting Vulnerable Public Lands Could Address U.S. Outdoor Recreation Needs” (Washington: Center for American Progress, 2023), available at https://www.americanprogress.org/article/protecting-vulnerable-public-lands-could-address-u-s-outdoor-recreation-needs/.
  31. U.S. Bureau of Land Management, “Public Lands Rule,” available at https://www.blm.gov/public-lands-rule (last accessed April 2024).
  32. See, for example, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, “Restoration for Resilience,” available at https://www.blm.gov/restoration-landscapes (last accessed April 2024).
  33. Drew McConville, “Why Conservation Leasing on Public Lands Is a Win-Win for Renewables and Wildlife” (Washington: Center for American Progress, 2023), available at https://www.americanprogress.org/article/why-conservation-leasing-on-public-lands-is-a-win-win-for-renewables-and-wildlife/.
  34. U.S. Bureau of Land Management, “Renewable Energy Rule,” available at https://www.blm.gov/renewable-energy-rule (last accessed April 2024).
  35. U.S. Department of the Interior, “Biden-Harris Administration Delivers Historic Milestones, New Actions for Clean Energy on Public Lands,” Press release, April 11, 2024, available at https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/biden-harris-administration-delivers-historic-milestones-new-actions-clean-energy.
  36. U.S. Department of the Interior, “Department of the Interior Announces Steps to Increase Clean Energy Development on Public Lands,” Press release, June 1, 2022, available at https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/department-interior-announces-steps-increase-clean-energy-development-public-lands.
  37. U.S. Bureau of Land Management, “BLM analysis aims to optimize solar energy development throughout the West,” Press release, January 17, 2024, available at https://www.blm.gov/press-release/blm-analysis-aims-optimize-solar-energy-development-throughout-west.
  38. The Wilderness Society, “Western Solar Plan and the Solar Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement,” available at https://www.wilderness.org/sites/default/files/media/file/Solar%20PEIS%20Fact%20Sheet_The%20Wilderness%20Society_2024.pdf (last accessed April 2024).
  39. U.S. Department of the Interior, “Department of the Interior Announces Steps to Increase Clean Energy Development on Public Lands.”
  40. U.S. Department of the Interior, “Department of the Interior Announces Steps to Increase Clean Energy Development on Public Lands”; The White House, “FACT SHEET: Biden-⁠Harris Administration Races to Deploy Clean Energy that Creates Jobs and Lowers Costs,” January 12, 2022, available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/01/12/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-races-to-deploy-clean-energy-that-creates-jobs-and-lowers-costs/.
  41. U.S. Bureau of Land Management, “Waste Prevention Rule,” available at https://www.blm.gov/2024-waste-prevention-rule (last accessed April 2024).
  42. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “EPA’s Final Rule for Oil and Natural Gas Operations Will Sharply Reduce Methane and Other Harmful Pollution,” available at https://www.epa.gov/controlling-air-pollution-oil-and-natural-gas-operations/epas-final-rule-oil-and-natural-gas (last accessed April 2024).
  43. U.S. Bureau of Land Management, ”BLM Waste Prevention Rule,” available at https://www.blm.gov/sites/default/files/docs/2024-03/FACT%20SHEET%20_%20Waste%20Prevention%20Rule%20ka%20CEQ.pdf (last accessed April 2024).
  44. U.S. Bureau of Land Management, “Fluid Mineral Leases and Leasing Process (Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Rule),” available at https://www.blm.gov/onshore-oil-and-gas-leasing-rule (last accessed April 2024).
  45. U.S. Bureau of Land Management, “The Bureau of Land Management’s Blueprint for 21st Century Outdoor Recreation.”
  46. Headwater Economics, “The Outdoor Recreation Economy by State,” November 27, 2023, available at https://headwaterseconomics.org/economic-development/trends-performance/outdoor-recreation-economy-by-state/.
  47. See, for example, U.S. Department of the Interior, “Biden-Harris Administration Takes Steps to Increase Co-Stewardship Opportunities, Incorporate Indigenous Knowledge, Protect Sacred Sites,” Press release, December 6, 2023, available at https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/biden-harris-administration-takes-steps-increase-co-stewardship-opportunities.
  48. WEST Act of 2023, H.R. 3397, 118th Cong., 2nd sess. (February 9, 2024), available at https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/3397; A bill to require the Director of the Bureau of Land Management to withdraw a rule of the Bureau of Land Management relating to conservation and landscape health, S. 1435, 118th Cong., 1st sess. (May 3, 2023), available at https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/1435.

The positions of American Progress, and our policy experts, are independent, and the findings and conclusions presented are those of American Progress alone. A full list of supporters is available here. American Progress would like to acknowledge the many generous supporters who make our work possible.

Author

Drew McConville

Senior Fellow

Team

Conservation Policy

We work to protect our lands, waters, ocean, and wildlife to address the linked climate and biodiversity crises. This work helps to ensure that all people can access and benefit from nature and that conservation and climate investments build a resilient, just, and inclusive economy.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.