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Act Now: Urge Congress to Stand Up for Balanced Management of Public Lands

The Biden Administration has initiated a rulemaking process to provide a more balanced approach to stewardship of our public landscapes, ensuring that multiple uses—including conservation—are considered by land managers. Unfortunately, there is an effort in Congress to invalidate this pending rulemaking. Your action is needed to make sure that Congress does not thwart balanced land management or undermine public participation in federal agency decisions.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) oversees nearly 250 million acres of public lands—from the deep temperate rainforests of the Pacific Northwest to the ecologically rich Sonoran, Mojave, and Chihuahuan deserts of the Southwest, as well as the remote watersheds sustaining communities in Alaska.

The Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) of 1976, the congressionally mandated blueprint for BLM land management, cites the dual principles of “multiple use and sustained yield.” For decades, however, there has been an imbalance in uses, with nearly 90% of BLM lands open to oil and gas leasing and less than 15% of its landscape protected.

Earlier this year, the BLM issued a draft Conservation and Landscape Health rule for public comment. The draft rule is intended to better balance public land uses by putting conservation on equal footing with other uses like mining, drilling, grazing, and timber harvesting.

Finalizing the Conservation and Landscape Health draft rule would facilitate utilization of the latest scientific data and of Indigenous knowledge to guide landscape management, including adaptive strategies to promote ecosystem resilience. It would also prioritize the designation and protection of areas of critical environmental concern—important landscapes that need protection to safeguard natural, historic, cultural, or scenic resources.

Over 150,000 members of the American public have sent comments to BLM regarding the draft Conservation and Landscape Health rule, with 92% of the comments in favor of it. Unfortunately, the proposed rule is threatened by legislation (H.R. 3397) that would nullify it and prevent any similar rule from ever going into effect. This bill not only undermines balanced protection of our national BLM lands but also upends the public’s participation in federal rulemaking processes.

Please act now to protect our public lands: Urge your U.S. representative to reject legislation that undermines balanced management of BLM lands and erodes public input.

Show less information

Act Now: Urge Congress to Stand Up for Balanced Management of Public Lands

The Biden Administration has initiated a rulemaking process to provide a more balanced approach to stewardship of our public landscapes, ensuring that multiple uses—including conservation—are considered by land managers. Unfortunately, there is an effort in Congress to invalidate this pending rulemaking. Your action is needed to make sure that Congress does not thwart balanced land management or undermine public participation in federal agency decisions.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) oversees nearly 250 million acres of public lands—from the deep temperate rainforests of the Pacific Northwest to the ecologically rich Sonoran, Mojave, and Chihuahuan deserts of the Southwest, as well as the remote watersheds sustaining communities in Alaska.

The Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) of 1976, the congressionally mandated blueprint for BLM land management, cites the dual principles of “multiple use and sustained yield.” For decades, however, there has been an imbalance in uses, with nearly 90% of BLM lands open to oil and gas leasing and less than 15% of its landscape protected.

Earlier this year, the BLM issued a draft Conservation and Landscape Health rule for public comment. The draft rule is intended to better balance public land uses by putting conservation on equal footing with other uses like mining, drilling, grazing, and timber harvesting.

Finalizing the Conservation and Landscape Health draft rule would facilitate utilization of the latest scientific data and of Indigenous knowledge to guide landscape management, including adaptive strategies to promote ecosystem resilience. It would also prioritize the designation and protection of areas of critical environmental concern—important landscapes that need protection to safeguard natural, historic, cultural, or scenic resources.

Over 150,000 members of the American public have sent comments to BLM regarding the draft Conservation and Landscape Health rule, with 92% of the comments in favor of it. Unfortunately, the proposed rule is threatened by legislation (H.R. 3397) that would nullify it and prevent any similar rule from ever going into effect. This bill not only undermines balanced protection of our national BLM lands but also upends the public’s participation in federal rulemaking processes.

Please act now to protect our public lands: Urge your U.S. representative to reject legislation that undermines balanced management of BLM lands and erodes public input.