Finalized at the tail-end of Joe Biden鈥檚 presidency, the so-called 鈥淧ublic Lands Rule鈥� or is the result of a yearslong public rule-making process that added conservation as a valid 鈥渦se鈥� of Bureau of Land Management Land.
Now, President Trump鈥檚 Department of the Interior wants to rescind it 鈥� as not 鈥渦sing鈥� the land, saying it stands in the way of 鈥渓egitimate鈥� uses, including mining, grazing, energy development, and recreation.
In a press release, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum said overturning the rule 鈥減rotects our American way of life and gives our communities a voice in the land that they depend on.鈥�
Though, conservation groups were quick to challenge that claim.
鈥淭he losers are the American people,鈥� said Aaron Weiss, deputy director of the nonpartisan conservation organization . 鈥淭he American people rely on the federal government to manage these lands for everybody, and conservation is part of that.鈥�
Weiss told 九色网 that scrapping the rule would bring the country back to a place where wealthy individuals could use public lands in New Mexico and elsewhere in the Western United States for their own personal gain.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really a return to that era of robber barons on public lands who got whatever they wanted first, and everyone else came second,鈥� he said.
Meanwhile oil and natural gas interest groups are applauding the decision, calling Biden鈥檚 rule 鈥渦nlawful鈥� and unfair for economic growth.
鈥淭he Conservation and Landscape Health rule upended over a century of public lands management practices that strike a balance between providing the resources our nation needs with protecting the environment,鈥� wrote President Melissa Simpson in a statement.
Simpson argued that the rule is illegal thanks to a 1976 bill passed by Congress called the . This law created a unified framework for managing all of the nation鈥檚 public lands for various uses.
While the law includes provisions for the protection of the environment, water, and cultural resources, it doesn鈥檛 necessarily recognize 鈥渃onservation鈥� as a valid 鈥渦se鈥� of public lands.
鈥淭he rule attempted to unlawfully codify conservation as a multiple use under the Federal Land and Policy Management Act by expanding the priorities beyond what Congress designated,鈥� Simpson wrote.
While the legality of the Public Lands Rule remains in the air, New Mexico continues to produce significantly more oil and gas than it has ever before. In 2024, the state , more than double what was produced in 2019.
Parts of the Permian Basin 鈥� one of the largest and most productive oil fields in the world 鈥� are .
Several at-risk and endangered species call this part of New Mexico home, such as the dunes sagebrush lizard. Last month, the lesser prairie chicken lost its protected status after a federal judge ruled in favor of a legal challenge from the oil and gas industry.
Once published in the Federal Register, the public will have the opportunity to for 60 days.
