Trump to Pull Biden Public Lands Rule

LINCOLN, Neb. (DTN) -- The Trump administration announced plans this week to withdraw the Biden-era "Public Lands Rule" that made conservation an official use of public lands, only to treat conservation as a "no use" that left lands idle.

The Bureau of Land Management announced on Wednesday that it is launching a 60-day public comment period on the withdrawal proposal.

The lands rule was an overhaul of how the federal government oversees 245 million acres of federal land, advertised as allowing 10-year conservation leases for grazing, timber harvest, mining, energy production and other uses.

The National Cattlemen's Beef Association and Public Lands Council challenged the rule in a 2024 lawsuit, alleging the rule violated the multiple-use mandate and would have paved the way for the federal government to "remove family ranching operations and other uses" from these working lands, the groups said in a news release on Wednesday.

That mandate in the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 requires the agency to manage public lands by allowing diverse uses, including energy development, mining, grazing and other uses, so that no single use dominates public lands.

"The last administration turned their back on ranchers and land conservation when they developed this rule and cut us out of the planning process for lands that we have managed for generations," Public Lands Council President and rancher Tim Canterbury said in a statement.

"It is well known that public lands grazing supports a healthy ecosystem and reduces the risk of catastrophic wildfires. As permittees, we saw the rule's clear intent: to remove us from our allotments and turn these lands into an unmanaged, unhealthy, unproductive liability. Ranchers across the West are thankful for the commonsense approach of the Trump administration to delete this rule from federal law and bring certainty back to ranchers and rural communities."

The Bureau of Land Management said in a new release on Wednesday that the Public Lands Rule "exceeded" the agency's statutory authority.

"The previous administration's Public Lands Rule had the potential to block access to hundreds of thousands of acres of multiple-use land -- preventing energy and mineral production, timber management, grazing and recreation across the West," BLM Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement.

"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."

The National Cattlemen's Beef Association and Public Lands Council were joined in their 2024 lawsuit by the American Farm Bureau Federation, American Exploration and Mining Association, American Forest Resource Council, American Petroleum Institute, American Sheep Industry Association, National Mining Association, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, Natrona County Farm and Ranch Bureau, Western Energy Alliance and Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation.

Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, said in a statement the administration's proposal is important for ranchers.

"Farm Bureau applauds the administration and Secretary Burgum for recognizing that the 2024 Conservation and Landscape Health Rule would do the opposite of its stated goal by limiting ranchers' efforts in the stewardship of public lands," he said.

"Farmers and ranchers care for the resources they've been entrusted with, and grazing on public lands helps clear brush that can fuel wildfires, controls invasive species and brings overall health benefits to the land. AFBF challenged the Biden administration in court because the rule exceeds the Bureau of Land Management's authority and would have unfairly impacted America's ranchers by limiting their ability to deliver safe and affordable protein to America's families. We appreciate the current administration for hearing our concerns, and we now urge them to move forward quickly to rescind this misguided rule."

Read more on DTN:

"Interior Proposes New Public Lands Rule," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

Todd Neeley can be reached at todd.neeley@dtn.com

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