Trump administration wants to cancel Biden-era rule that made conservation a 'use' of public land

Source: AP

Updated 11:12 AM EDT, September 10, 2025


BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on Wednesday proposed canceling a public land management rule that put conservation on equal footing with development, as President Donald Trump’s administration seeks to open more taxpayer-owned tracts to drilling, logging, mining and grazing.

The rule was a key part of efforts under former President Joe Biden to refocus the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management, which oversees about 10% of land in the U.S. Adopted last year, it allowed public property to be leased for restoration in the same way that oil companies lease land for drilling.

Industry and agriculture groups were bitterly opposed to the Biden rule and lobbied Republicans to reverse it. States including North Dakota, where Burgum served as governor before joining Trump’s Cabinet, pursued a lawsuit hoping to block the rule.

Wednesday’s announcement comes amid a flurry of actions since Trump took office aimed at boosting energy production from the federal government’s vast land holdings, which are concentrated in Western states including Alaska, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/public-lands-conservation-drilling-burgum-5e08bfa715d692ad2ca5184504569748