Sierra Club Responds to Trump Administration Stripping California Public Lands Conservation

SACRAMENTO - Today, the Trump administration finalized its rescission of the BLM Public Lands Rule, eliminating much-needed modern safeguards for America's public lands through a process that limited public participation and ignored clear public opposition. The decision advances a broader effort to weaken public land protections while prioritizing extractive industries, like drilling, mining, and logging, over conserving public lands and ensuring recreational access.

Despite the administration offering fewer avenues for public engagement than under the original rulemaking process for the Public Lands Rule, the public response was decisive. More than 130,000 comments were submitted during the comment period for the rescission rule. An analysis revealed that an overwhelming 98 percent of commenters urged the administration to retain the Public Lands Rule , including members of Congress, local elected leaders, former Bureau of Land Management (BLM) officials, Tribal representatives, and community voices from across the country .

The Public Lands Rule ensured conservation, wildlife habitat, clean water, cultural resources, and Indigenous Knowledge would be fully considered alongside development across more than 250 million acres of public land, including more than 15 million acres in California. Rescinding the rule strips the BLM of critical tools needed to manage land health and respond to growing climate and ecological challenges, while also harming local communities built on recreational tourism who rely on healthy landscapes.

In response, Mary Lunetta, Conservation Campaign Strategist at Sierra Club, released the following statement:

"The Public Lands Rule ensured that values Californians cherish, such as access to nature, cultural resource protection, and safeguarding wildlife habitat, were balanced alongside development on our public lands. The repeal of this rule is the latest in a series of Trump Administration attempts to diminish the will of the people and make way for expanded drilling, mining and industrialization across some of California's most treasured landscapes. California has long been a national leader in land and water conservation, and our elected officials must continue to defend our public lands in the courts and in Congress if we are to reach our 30x30 goals, and leave future generations with a world still rich in wild places."