Attorney General Clark and Coalition Submit Comment Letter Strongly Urging the Trump Administration to Withdraw its Illegal Proposal to Rescind the Public Lands Rule

Attorney General Charity Clark today joined a multistate coalition of 6 attorneys general in filing a comment letter opposing the U.S. Department of the Interior's proposal to rescind the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)'s Conservation and Landscape Health Rule (Public Lands Rule), a landmark regulation that clarifies that conservation is a "use" of federal public lands on equal footing with mining, drilling, timber, and grazing across 245 million acres of public lands nationwide. Importantly, the Public Lands Rule created formal leasing frameworks that allow BLM to lease land for conservation, restoration, and climate change mitigation purposes. Additionally, The Rule prioritizes designation of "areas of critical environmental concern" (ACECs) and provides for greater stakeholder engagement, including Tribal consultation, on management decisions on all BLM-managed lands. The Rule provides necessary tools for BLM to address the pernicious impacts of climate change on public lands across the United States. In the comment letter, the coalition highlights how the rescission of the Rule would not only be unlawful but would leave millions of acres more vulnerable to degradation, habitat loss, and worsening impacts from climate change.

BLM is responsible for managing 245 million acres of public land under its "multiple-use and sustained yield" mandate established by the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA).

Last month, the BLM issued a proposed recission, arguing that the rule is "unnecessary and violates existing statutory requirements," and precludes "productive uses" which BLM narrowly identifies as grazing, mining, and energy development.

In the comment letter, the multistate coalition explains that:

• Eliminating BLM's ability to lease lands for conservation is removing a tool to address widespread degradation of public lands. This will impede BLM from achieving FLPMA's mandate that BLM manage its lands for sustained resource yield for future generations.
• If finalized, the recission would jeopardize public health and economic output to states. Public lands tourism benefits states in the form of jobs and new business development. In 2021, recreation on BLM-managed lands supported $11 billion in national economic output and 76,000 jobs.
• The proposed rule is arbitrary and capricious, contrary to law, and violates the Administrative Procedure Act, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act.
• Conservation is necessary to ensure that our natural resources-and the communities and economies that depend upon them- are sustained for future generations. FLPMA's multiple use mandate is a balancing act, not a license to deplete.

Joining Attorney General Clark in submitting this comment letter are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington.

A copy of the letter can be found on our website.

CONTACT: Amelia Vath, Senior Advisor to the Attorney General, 802-828-3171