Rule Rescinded: BLM rolls back controversial Public Lands Rule

On May 11, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) announced a final rule fully rescinding the Conservation and Landscape Health Rule, commonly referred to as the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Public Lands Rule.

The Biden-era rule designated conservation as a legitimate use of public lands, placing conservation on equal footing with grazing, mining and energy development. 

It has been met with opposition from the ag industry since its implementation, with ranchers and farm groups arguing its provisions impeded grazing and went against multiple-use mandates established under the Federal Land Policy Management Act (FLPMA).

The Trump administration first began taking steps toward rescinding the rule in September 2025, and according to a summary published in the Federal Register on May 12, the rule’s rescission “restores balance to federal land management under the principles of multiple use and sustained yield by prioritizing access, empowering local decision-making and aligning the BLM’s implementing regulations with statutory requirements and national energy policy.”

The rescission has been met with enthusiasm from ag industry groups and significant concern from conservationists, and the rule continues to garner controversy long after its initial implementation.

Longstanding controversy

The Public Lands Rule has been surrounded by controversy and received harsh criticism from the ag industry since it was first instated.

In 2024, Wyoming and Utah filed a joint lawsuit claiming the BLM sidestepped the National Environmental Policy Act and calling for the rule to be vacated, according to a May 11 WyoFile article by Katie Klingsporn.

Klingsporn further re-ports a coalition of energy, mining, farming and ranching groups including the Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation (WyFB), American Petroleum Institute and Western Energy Alliance also challenged the rule in court.

In September 2025, the BLM published a notice in the Federal Register proposing to rescind the 2024 rule.

“The previous administration’s Public Lands Rule had the potential to block access to hundreds of thousands of acres of multiple-use land – preventing energy and mineral production, timber management, grazing and recreation across the West,” said U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum in a September 10, 2025 press release. “The most effective caretakers of our federal lands are those whose livelihoods rely on its well-being. Overturning this rule protects our American way of life and gives our communities a voice in the land they depend on.”

A win for ag

Ag industry groups are celebrating the rescission, arguing ranching is an effective form of conservation and thanking the current administration for restoring practical multiple-use management opportunities to producers.

WyFB has opposed the rule since its introduction in 2024 and praised the rescission in a May 13 press release.

“We are pleased with the BLM’s announcement to rescind the Public Lands Rule,” says WyFB Executive Vice President Kerin Clark. “Our organization requested a withdrawal of the rule when it was issued in May 2024 seeing it as detrimental to public land management.”

“The rule would have made ‘non-use,’ also de-scribed as conservation, as a use on BLM land,” Clark continues. “This would have been in contradiction to the multiple-use mandate given to the BLM by Congress through FLPMA.”

“Multiple-use management provides for public lands to be utilized and stewarded through use,” she adds. “Grazing permittees contribute to the overall stewardship of the lands through stimulating plant growth, supporting wildlife, fire mitigation and improving the health of rangelands.”

The Public Lands Council (PLC) also praised the rescission in a May 12 press release, stating, “Today, the Trump administration announced a final rule to rescind the ill-advised Public Lands Rule, alongside a landmark proposed rule to reform BLM grazing regulations. Individually, these actions are consequential to cattle and sheep producers across the West. Together, they are a clear signal of BLM’s commitment to restoring effective multiple-use management and the agency’s investment in promoting strong rangeland resilience.”

“From day one, public lands ranchers were clear with the Trump administration – we needed them to remove policies which illegally picked winners and losers in public land management, and we needed them to deliver on their commitment to bring important reform to the agency’s 35-year-old grazing regulations,” adds PLC President Tim Canterbury. “Today, they have delivered repeal of the Public Lands Rule which would have resulted in removal of grazing under the guise of ‘conservation’ principles, even though science demonstrates the benefits of our highly-managed grazing on these landscapes.” 

Mixed reaction 

Outside of the ag industry, the rescission has garnered mixed reactions including significant concern from conservationist groups.

Following the BLM’s announcement, several conservationist groups including the Wyoming Wilderness Association (WWA) issued statements criticizing the decision.

“To rescind the Public Land Rule betrays the trust of thousands of citizens who believed themselves to be represented when conservation was finally given a seat at the table,” states Jennie Mans, WWA’s BLM wildlands director, in a May 11 press release. “Wyoming’s BLM lands – approximately 18.4 million acres representing 30 percent of our state – are critical to safeguarding wildlife habitat, migration corridors and our cultural heritage.”

“The Public Lands Rule restored accountability, science-based management and public transparency – ensuring conservation was treated as a legitimate use of our shared lands and, in doing so, acknowledging a truer meaning of multiple use,” Mans continues. “Working lands should work for all Americans, not just those with industrial interests at heart.”

However, others – including Gov. Mark Gordon – maintain conservation will not be impeded by the rule’s rollback. In a May 11 press release, Gordon called the decision a “welcome return to the statutory principle of true multiple use on our public lands.” 

“Wyoming people have long understood conservation and responsible use are not mutually exclusive,” Gordon says. “Our ranchers, energy producers, sportsmen, counties and local communities have cared for these lands for generations while supporting jobs, schools, economies and wildlife habitat.”

Grace Skavdahl is the editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.