Nov 5, 2025
Most of us want to live in a world where future generations grow up healthy and safe—breathing fresh air and drinking safe water. America's deserts, forests, and mountains are some of the best parts of our homeland, whether we've been here for generations or moved here recently. This world is part of what the Public Lands Rule gives us.
In 2024, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) finalized the Public Lands Rule—a landmark policy to responsibly steward over 245 million acres of public lands across the country. This rule finally puts conservation, ecosystem restoration, and community access on equal footing with extractive uses like mining, drilling, and grazing. Backed by a diverse coalition of Western leaders, Tribes, scientists, and businesses, the rule represents a long-overdue shift toward sustainable, inclusive land stewardship.
Now, it faces rescission by the Trump administration. On Monday, November 3, our coalition hosted a timely webinar with frontline and subject matter experts to discuss what’s at stake and how we can take action before the November 10 public comment deadline.
Voices from the Frontlines: Why the Rule Is Essential
To Support Healthy Communities and Local Economies
Rebecca Gillis of The Conservation Alliance explained that this isn’t just about conservation—it’s about the economic well-being of our communities. The rule provides badly needed certainty for the thousands of small businesses, guides, and outfitters who depend on healthy public lands. Rescinding it threatens their livelihoods, degrades visitor experiences, and risks public safety.
To Sustain Safe Drinking Water and Healthy Soils for All Communities
Public lands shape our collective future. They sustain safe water, healthy soils, and cultural memory. Kara Matsumoto, Public Lands Policy Director at the Conservation Lands Foundation, laid out the rule’s essential framework. She explained how it modernizes BLM’s management by elevating conservation as an essential use alongside development, expanding tools to restore degraded lands, and formally recognizing Indigenous Knowledge as a vital source of science and stewardship.
To Protect Our Most Critical Places
Sally Paez, an attorney with New Mexico Wild, highlighted the on-the-ground damage from outdated management. In New Mexico’s Carlsbad Field Office, the BLM is still using a plan from 1988. Because of this, corporations are actively drilling for oil and gas inside areas that communities have nominated for protection. The Public Lands Rule provides the first real tools to fix this, finally empowering the BLM to prioritize and protect these Areas of Critical Environmental Concern.
To Honor Indigenous Knowledge and Stewardship
Keegan King of the Native Land Institute spoke to the rule’s vital role in honoring tribal sovereignty. For the first time, the rule formally affirms Indigenous Knowledge as a high-quality source of information for land management. It opens the door for true co-stewardship, supporting Tribes in leading the restoration of their ancestral lands and moving us all toward a right relationship with the lands that sustain us.
Every voice counts! Here’s how you can take action
Submit a Public Comment by November 10 opposing the rescission of the Public Lands Rule.
Sign On as an Organization to our coalition letter to stand with more than 300 partners across the country defending the Public Lands Rule.
Call or Email Your Members of Congress and urge them to defend the Public Lands Rule. Let them know that:
Public lands belong to all of us—not just extractive industries.
Healthy lands support healthy communities and local economies.
You oppose selling off our shared lands to corporate interests.
Spread the Word about the Public Lands Rule with your networks. Talk to your neighbors, post on social media, or write letters to the editor of your local newspaper. The more people who understand what’s at stake, the stronger our collective voice becomes.
Watch our full community briefing:
The deadline is November 10th. Our public lands need you. Take action today.
