Trump Administration to Repeal Biden-Era Public Lands Conservation Rule

The Trump administration on Monday said it would repeal a Biden-era rule that allowed public lands to be leased for conservation purposes. The regulation had sought to protect millions of acres from industrial development and the effects of climate change.

The rule, issued by the Bureau of Land Management, had prioritized the use of federal lands for conservation, recreation and renewable energy development.

Since returning to office, President Trump has championed their use for oil and gas drilling, coal mining, logging and livestock grazing. The regulation applied to roughly 245 million acres of public lands overseen by the bureau, which make up about one-tenth of the country. It did not apply to national parks, which are overseen by the National Park Service.

In a notice in the Federal Register on Monday, the Bureau of Land Management said the rollback would be finalized on Tuesday. The bureau, sometimes called the country’s largest landlord, has for decades offered leases for the development of public lands, including for oil drilling and cattle ranching. Some of those activities have fragmented wildlife habitat and contaminated watersheds.

At the same time, climate change has fueled more frequent and more severe wildfires and drought across the West. The Biden-era rule, finalized in April 2024, sought to put conservation on equal footing with development for the first time since the Bureau of Land Management was established in 1946.

It allowed the agency to offer two new types of leases for restoring degraded ecosystems and for offsetting environmental damage.

None of the new leases were awarded before the rule was repealed.