Americans Rally Behind the Public Lands Rule

WASHINGTON, D.C.- A broad cross-section of Americans voiced their support for protecting public lands and preserving the Public Lands Ruleas the Trump administration's 60-day public comment period to rescind the rule closed today. Despite the administration's failure to host a single public meeting or conduct community outreach and Tribal consultation regarding the proposed rollback, the American public once again raised their collective voice in defense of public lands, calling on the administration to end its assault on America's outdoors and preserve common-sense rules that put conservation on equal footing with other land uses.

In addition to public comments opposing the Trump administration's push to rescind the rule, 61 Members of Congress (47 House/14 Senate) signed a letter calling on the administration to preserve it. They were joined by over 180 local elected officials from every western state, former BLM officials, legal scholars, outdoor recreation leaders, and multiple Tribal organizationsand Tribes-all highlighting the need for greater focus on conservation and voicing support for the rule.

The rule's rollback comes on the heels of a failed effort by Utah Senator Mike Lee to sell off millions of acres of public lands as part of the budget reconciliation package, the rollback of the Roadless Rule that has protected national forests since the Clinton administration, mass firings of land managers across the country, and multiple executive and secretarial orders that hand over control of America's public lands to the oil, gas, and mining industries-all part of a broad attempt to privatize and exploit public lands.

Despite the administration's attacks, the rule has remained widely popular. Leading western newspapers have endorsed it, including the Salt Lake Tribune, which noted that "The only thing wrong with a proposed rulethat would have the U.S. Bureau of Land Management officially consider conservation as one of the "multiple uses" intended for the huge swaths of public land it oversees is that it wasn't written 47 years ago." Conservation and public lands champions and leaders across the country have echoed this overwhelming support. (BLM backgrounder and analysis on public lands rule)

The Act Now for Public Lands coalition's technical comments can be found here.

National

"The Public Lands Rule recognizes that BLM's stewardship of our public lands must include conservation just as much as resource development," said Athan Manuel, director of Sierra Club's Lands Protection Program. "It's a commonsense policy, but common sense is in short supply in the Trump administration. Donald Trump and his allies in Congress see any conservation of our country's natural heritage as illegitimate and an obstacle to their ultimate goal - selling out our public lands to billionaires and corporate polluters. These landscapes are priceless, and scrapping the Public Lands Rule would ignore the overwhelming support for the rule shown time and time again during extensive public outreach."

"Our support of the Public Lands Rule, which gives BLM the tools for responsible, balanced stewardship of America's public lands, remains unchanged. Rolling this rule back is part of a broader intention to incite chaos and ruin our public lands via sell-offs, expanded oil and gas leasing, and the erosion of management plans that protect public access and wildlife habitat. It shows utter disregard and disrespect to everyone who supports the rule-including Congress, legal experts, former BLM leaders, local officials, nonprofits, and businesses. Instead of pushing this unpopular repeal through during the longest shutdown in American history, BLM ought to be fulfilling its obligation to the public and conservation and move forward with implementing the Public Lands Rule," said Jocelyn Torres, Chief Conservation Officer at the Conservation Lands Foundation.

"Interior's rationale for repeal is on shaky footing - stating that it believes the rule is unnecessary and violates statutory direction. To the contrary, the Public Lands Rule was informed by many months of thoughtful public engagement and review, and it has solid grounding in a nearly 50-year-old directive from Congress. Indeed, it is necessary to ensure compliance with long-standing direction from Congress that protecting undeveloped landscapes, wildlife habitat, and cultural resources is central to BLM's mission. The administration cannot simply overthrow that statutory authority because they would prefer to let drilling and mining companies call the shots." - Alison Flint, Senior Legal Director, The Wilderness Society

"The Public Lands Rule ensures America's lands are managed for long-term health, not short-term exploitation. Gutting it would mean more habitat loss, more fragmentation, and less accountability. Americans have been clear-they want their public lands protected, not sold off." - Bobby McEnaney, Land Conservation Director at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council).

"We're watching in real-time the dismantling of proven best practices for managing and restoring national lands for wildlife and for the enjoyment of future generations," said Maddy Munson, senior policy and planning specialist at Defenders of Wildlife. "If the BLM rescinds this rule, public lands will return to an outdated management approach that prioritizes resource extraction to the detriment of conservation. This would be an entirely inadequate way to address urgent issues like chronic drought and large-scale habitat loss."

"The Conservation Alliance represents outdoor businesses across the United States that depend on access to healthy, resilient, and well-managed public lands," said Rebecca Gillis, Senior Director of Advocacy at Outreach at The Conservation Alliance. "The Public Lands Rule was developed through extensive input from the public, businesses, and Tribal communities. It provides much-needed regulatory clarity and a long-term framework for managing our shared lands on which our businesses rely. Rescinding this rule would introduce unnecessary risk and uncertainty for businesses across sectors, jeopardizing local communities and the strength of America's $1.2 trillion outdoor recreation economy."

California

California is home to the nation's largest outdoor industry economy. Recreational activities that occur on the 15 million acres that BLM manages in California are a significant contributor to that economy. The Public Lands Rule helps to ensure that BLM takes a balanced approach in its land use decisions, so that extractive uses are no longer prioritized over recreational and other uses. Now that the comment period has closed on the proposed rescission of the Public Lands Rule, we urge the BLM to carefully consider the public comments that have been submitted and to come to the only appropriate conclusion - that the Rule should be retained in full. The BLM has not and cannot lawfully justify rescission of the Rule, said Linda Castro, Assistant Policy Director of CalWild.

Colorado

"Coloradans have spent decades working together to improve how we manage public lands so that they support healthy wildlife, world-class recreation, and the clean air and water that make this state such a great place to live. But the Trump Administration couldn't care less. Their attack on the common-sense Public Lands Rule is another cynical step toward dismantling responsible public land management, and ultimately, getting rid of our public lands altogether." - Soren Jespersen, Director, Colorado Wildlands Project

Idaho

Public Lands are the heart and soul of Idaho. They add immeasurably to our quality of life. Idahoans overwhelmingly want them to remain in public hands. We recognize that Public Lands are valued for multiple uses. The foundation for all these uses is sustainability and conservation. The Public Lands Rule clearly established that conservation deserves a seat at the table with other uses. By rescinding the Public Lands rule, the administration is undermining the balance and beauty that make our public lands so special. - John Robison, Public Lands and Wildlife Director, Idaho Conservation League

Montana

By ignoring the public and continuing to push this rollback, decision-makers are once again showing that they care more about exploiting public lands for private profits than supporting real people. Montanans made it clear that oil and gas corporations shouldn't dictate what happens to our public lands, but they're plowing ahead to cut public input, undermine local management, and give industry and billionaires control of the places where we hike, hunt, fish, camp, and ride. If it wasn't clear before, it is now: this is part of a systematic approach to dismantling the public lands that support our way of life. Public lands are ours, and Montanans won't let corporate interests and anti-public lands lawmakers privatize our heritage, erase our voices, or sell off our future. -Aubrey Bertram, staff attorney and federal policy director, Wild Montana

Nevada

"Public lands are the backbone of the Nevada outdoor lifestyle and our economy. Rescinding the Public Lands Rule makes no sense in Nevada where the balance of development and conservation is critical to maintaining our recreation economy, wildlife habitat, starry skies as well as robust mining and energy jobs. The rule provides tools for the BLM to more effectively maintain that balance as well as helping restore our lands that have been ravaged by wildfires and the spread of invasive species. We need people to come together and work towards a common goal of caring for our public lands. Political posturing is not helpful," said Shaaron Netherton, Executive Director of Friends of Nevada Wilderness.

New Mexico

"New Mexico's 13.5 million acres of BLM-managed public lands provide many benefits to our state, including wildlife habitat, places for people to hike, hunt, camp, fish, and connect with nature, and economic gains. The Public Lands Rule provided needed tools to safeguard and restore New Mexico's watersheds, ecosystems, cultural landscapes, and way of life. If we don't have policies that balance natural and cultural values alongside oil and gas drilling and other extractive uses, we are failing in our obligation to leave a healthy New Mexico for future generations." - Sally Paez, staff attorney for New Mexico Wild

Oregon

"Oregon's high desert, its cherished fish and wildlife, resplendent wilderness, irreplaceable cultural resources, boundless recreational opportunities, and the communities and economies that depend on healthy, intact public lands are all beneficiaries of the Public Lands Rule. Only unfettered extractive industry will profit from its elimination." - Mark Salvo, Conservation Director, Oregon Natural Desert Association

Utah

"America's public lands face unprecedented threats from the Trump administration and its repeated decisions to prioritize fossil fuel development and extractive industry over clean water, wildlife habitat, and wild open spaces. This is especially the case in Utah, where Trump's policies are having devastating consequences for the nation's redrock wilderness. The Public Lands Rule reiterates that Congress has directed the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to put conservation on equal footing with other uses of the public lands and lays out a framework for the agency to restore degraded landscapes and protect intact landscapes for current and future generations. Americans and Utahns overwhelmingly support the Rule and the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance mobilized our members and supporters to oppose the Trump administration's shortsighted effort to undo it." - Steve Bloch, legal director for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA)

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit https://www.sierraclub.org.