Dems urge Burgum to retain Biden-era public lands rule

Republicans have spent years attacking the rulemaking that elevates conservation as a federal land management objective.

November 10, 2025

Dozens of Democratic lawmakers on Monday urged Interior Secretary Doug Burgum not to revoke a rule that elevates conservation on par with other uses of millions of acres of rangelands overseen by the Bureau of Land Management.

Doing so would “undermine the long-term resilience of BLM lands at a time when wide-ranging stressors — including climate change, biodiversity and habitat loss, and increasing public demand for access to public lands — require stronger, not weaker, management frameworks,” the 61 lawmakers wrote in a letter sent Monday to Burgum and Bill Groffy, BLM’s acting director.

“We urge you to withdraw the proposed rescission and continue to fully implement the Public Lands Rule,” according to the letter, organized by California Rep. Jared Huffman, the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee, and Colorado Sen. John Hickenlooper.

“The Rule is critical to meeting BLM’s statutory obligations, sustaining and realizing the benefits of multiple uses compatible with public lands,” the lawmakers added, “and ensuring these special landscapes remain healthy and productive for all Americans to enjoy for years to come.”

A spokesperson for the Interior Department declined to comment.

The letter comes as the 60-day public comment period closes Monday on BLM’s proposal to rescind the conservation and landscape health rule — commonly referred to as the public lands rule — that was implemented last year. The rule is arguably the signature public lands policy initiative completed under the Biden administration.

Among other components, the public lands rule applied rangeland health standards across the 245 million acres the bureau oversees.

It also created a new leasing system that would have allowed environmental groups or others to pay to protect BLM-managed land for a certain period of time, such as if companies wanted to execute a mitigation project to compensate for work on other federal land.

Conservation groups have lined up in support of the rule. So did a group of 180 current and former local government leaders from 10 Western states, organized as a coalition called the Mountain Pact. They submitted a comment letter to BLM last week urging it “to listen to the voices of our communities and the public” and “reconsider this short sighted rollback.”

But the public lands rule has faced staunched opposition since first introduced in 2023, mostly by Republican lawmakers in Congress, as well as some ranching industry groups along with drilling and mining representatives.

The Interior Department under President Donald Trump has argued the rule would unfairly restrict other uses of federal lands, from recreation and grazing to oil and gas development.

The proposal to revoke the rule followed a five-month review of it overseen by the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.

BLM also conducted a review of the rule and determined that it “is unnecessary and violates existing statutory requirements,” according to a notice published in the Federal Register in September.

In Monday’s letter, the group of lawmakers — which includes Sen. Angus King of Maine, an independent who caucuses with Democrats — wrote in it that they disagree, particularly to the charge that it doesn’t conform with the spirit of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, the 1976 law that governs how BLM manages the millions of acres under its care.

“The clear language of FLPMA states that allowed uses of BLM land include ‘recreation, range, timber, minerals, watershed, wildlife and fish, and natural scenic, scientific and historical values," the letter said. “The Public Lands Rule fully reflects this mandate and does not come at the expense of other uses, including grazing and energy development.”

Rather, they wrote, “By providing an updated framework in which grazing, energy development, recreation, timber, wildlife, watershed protection and conservation can all be sustained together, the Public Lands Rule follows the law established by Congress almost 50 years ago and ensures that BLM lands continue to provide a balance of benefits for present and future generations.”


By:  Scott Streater
Source: Politico Greenwire