The Interior Department is moving to eliminate land-use restrictions imposed on all federal land by the Biden administration. The proposal involves every acre of federally owned land, which amounts to approximately one-tenth of the country.
In a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) release issued on Wednesday about the change, Interior Sec. Doug Burgum said former President Joe Biden and his administration used the "2024 Public Lands Rule" as a way to prevent "energy and mineral production, timber management, grazing and recreation across the West."
The Trump administration accused Biden of using the rule, which took effect in May 2024, to effectively prevent anything from happening on federal land. "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."
In announcing the establishment of the rule, the Biden administration's Interior Sec. Deb Haaland said in a release that climate change would be one of the controlling factors in how the government viewed the use of public lands.
"As stewards of America's public lands, the Interior Department takes seriously our role in helping bolster landscape resilience in the face of worsening climate impacts," she said.
President Donald Trump began dismantling U.S. government involvement in climate change programs within hours of his Jan. 20 inauguration, issuing an executive order that withdrew the U.S. from international climate agreements and initiated the removal of climate rules from government departments.
The Trump BLM says the rollback of the Biden administration rule means that, when appropriate, commercial activity on public land is a proper use of the resource. "Rescinding the rule restores BLM to its legal mandate and protects these economic drivers from restrictive land-use policies."
Burgum said the essence of the change is that public land belongs to the public, not the government. "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."
Once published in the Federal Register, a 60-day comment period is opened for Americans.
Jim Mishler ✉
Jim Mishler, a seasoned reporter, anchor and news director, has decades of experience covering crime, politics and environmental issues.
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