Public Lands Rule Rescission Q&A with WWA BLM Wildlands Director Jennie Mans

On Monday, May 11th, the final rescission of the Public Lands Rule (PLR) was published in the Federal Register’s public inspection. The PLR (officially the Conservation and Landscape Health Rule) was a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) regulation that recognized conservation as an essential component of public lands management. It placed conservation on equal footing with other multiple uses, such as oil and gas drilling, mining, and grazing, of the more than 250 million acres of BLM-managed lands nationwide.

We asked WWA BLM Wildlands Director Jennie Mans to answer a few big questions about the impact this rescission will have both nationally and here in Wyoming.

What does rescinding the Public Lands Rule mean for conservation moving forward?

Despite the administration offering fewer avenues for public engagement than during the original Public Lands Rule (PLR) policy-making, more than 130,000 people still engaged during the rescission comment period, with an analysis revealing that an overwhelming ninety-eight percent urged the administration to retain the PLR. Commenters included members of Congress, local elected leaders, former BLM officials, Tribal representatives, and community voices from across the country.

The rescission reverts the BLM to the 1983 Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) framework, eliminates restoration and mitigation leasing, and rescinds Land Health Standards outside of grazing regulations. The BLM also determined that it was not obliged to conduct Tribal consultation in the process of rescinding the Rule.

Most concerningly, the rule advances a narrow view of conservation that frames resource protection primarily as a tool to support “balanced development” and the “long-term productivity” of resources, rather than recognizing conservation as an independent and enduring public land value under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) multiple use and sustained yield mandate.

Of course, rescinding the rule does not eliminate the realities facing our public lands, and the Bureau of Land Management still has a responsibility to sustainably manage our public BLM lands for the benefit of wildlife, communities, and future generations.

WWA is based in one of the cornerstone regions of American conservation. How was the Public Lands Rule affecting the trajectory of public land management?

To rescind the Public Land Rule (PLR) betrays the trust of thousands of citizens who believed themselves to be represented when conservation was finally given a seat at the table. Wyoming’s BLM lands, approximately 18.4 million acres representing thirty percent of our state, are critical to safeguarding wildlife habitat, migration corridors, and our cultural heritage. Watching Wyoming delegates applaud the rescission flies in the face of what we, their Wyoming constituents, are calling on them to steward.

As the state with the fourth most BLM land by acreage, we should be leaders in thoughtful stewardship of “multi-use” management practices. The PLR restored accountability, science-based management, and public transparency, ensuring that conservation was treated as a legitimate use of our shared lands and, in doing so, acknowledging a truer meaning of ‘multiple use.’ Many groups were already utilizing the PLR when working with the BLM to make management decisions and provide public input; despite being rescinded so quickly, the PLR was a powerful standard when writing technical comments that many organizations, WWA included, were using when participating in BLM decision-making.

Wyoming landscapes are remarkable places that deserve management for the Wilderness characteristics they unequivocally contain. These wild spaces belong to everyone, to be stewarded for the future benefit of the people and ecological health of the landscape so that we may share them for generations to come. Although the PLR has been rescinded, we continue to fight for and contribute to the current and future landscape protections worth our efforts. Working lands should work for all Americans, not just those with industrial interests at heart.

How will WWA work to steward and advocate for BLM landscapes moving forward?

Rescinding the PLR did not eliminate BLM’s authority to carry out the core concepts and tools reflected in the rule. Under FLPMA, the BLM is required to manage public lands for “multiple use and sustained yield.” These terms, defined by Congress, make clear that BLM public lands must be managed to meet present and future needs through a balanced combination of uses that include not only grazing, timber, and mineral extraction, but also watershed, wildlife, and fishery management, and scenic, scientific, and historic preservation.

Conservation is not the “absence of use.” It is active land management that maintains the health and productivity of public lands so they can continue to support all uses over time. Without conservation, lands degrade — and degraded lands cannot sustain grazing, recreation, energy development, or clean water. The 18.4 million acres overseen by the Wyoming BLM are facing escalating ecological stress from both historic land management practices and accelerating environmental change. This imbalance has contributed to watershed degradation, habitat fragmentation, invasive species spread, soil impairment, and biodiversity loss, all of which undermine the ability of public lands to support sustained multiple use.

These conditions are inconsistent with FLPMA’s mandate that the BLM manage lands “without permanent impairment of the productivity of the land and the quality of the environment,” and that it take the action necessary to prevent unnecessary or undue degradation. In fact, the BLM’s own data show that millions of acres are failing land health standards, limiting the ability of public lands to provide wildlife habitat, clean water, forage, and recreation opportunities. Where lands are degraded, they cannot sustain the very uses FLPMA requires the Bureau of Land Management to balance.

WWA will continue to work with federal land managers to support their efforts to maintain Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs) to ensure their suitability for wilderness designation is not impaired. This includes a continuation of our efforts to be boots on the ground stewards of these landscapes, partnering with federal and local agencies to continue citizen science and data collection to quantify, and advocating for these pristine landscapes that safeguard Wyoming’s ecological and cultural health and livelihood. Like ranchers, recreationalists, and other seemingly-varied interests in the state, we are equally as invested in our shared public lands and the collaborative stewardship process of these places.