Utah sued over a Biden-era conservation rule last year. Now, the Trump admin is dismantling it.

Utah last year sued to throw out a Biden-era conservation rule for public lands. Now, President Donald Trump’s White House has started the process of rolling it back. The Public Lands Rule , also called the Conservation and Landscape Health Rule, was finalized by the Bureau of Land Management last June.

According to the agency, the rule puts conservation on par with other uses of public lands — like mining, grazing, logging and recreation — by creating “restoration and mitigation leases” through which the BLM can lease degraded land for restoration to nonprofits or companies. The Trump administration’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, housed within the Office of Management and Budget, posted a notice Tuesday titled “Rescission of Conservation and Landscape Health Rule.” The move follows orders issued by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to promote energy development on public lands.



Trump, on his first day in office, also signed an executive order to begin “unleashing American energy.” Utah, which joined Wyoming to challenge the rule in court , argued last summer that the new guidance “represents a sea change in how the agency will carry out its mission moving forward.” The two states claimed the BLM broke the law by not considering the rule’s environmental impacts.

Attorney General Derek Brown said the state is “thrilled the Trump administration has decided to reexamine the Biden-era Public Lands Rule” in a statement on Wednesday. “This rule could keep Utahns off public lands and would employ a museum-type management approach — you can look, but you can’t touch,” Brown said. “All Utahns should have access to Utah public lands under a policy that allows for multiple uses.

The Trump Administration has a better understanding of Utah’s unique public lands challenges and we look forward to working with them to increase access to Utah’s public lands.” Environmental groups praised the rule when it went into effect and have condemned the move to rescind it. By repealing the Public Lands Rule, “the Trump administration would be turning public lands into playgrounds for drilling and development interests and ignoring the voices of local communities and many tribal nations,” said Alison Flint, senior legal director at The Wilderness Society, in a statement.

“The consequences would be sweeping and deeply damaging to people, wildlife and the planet.” Steve Bloch, legal director for the nonprofit Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, said the group “will work to keep the Public Lands Rule in place.” Utah leaders have said they worry the new “restoration and mitigation leases” would push others, including ranchers, miners and recreational users, off of public land.

Rep. Celeste Maloy, who introduced legislation to revoke the Public Lands Rule earlier this year , said through a spokesperson Tuesday that the rule “threatens the livelihoods of Utahns who have used the land for ranching, grazing, and more for generations.” Maloy’s spokesperson said she “is pleased to see the administration take the necessary steps to repeal this burdensome rule.

” Sen. John Curtis also commended the White House for rolling back the rule, saying it “undermines local communities and favors wealthy individuals and environmental groups, who could use its provisions to restrict access to lands that should remain open to everyone” in a statement Wednesday. Rep.

Blake Moore, too, called the move “a step in the right direction” in a Wednesday statement. “This move will put critical conservation decisions back in the hands of the states, and I am fully supportive,” Moore continued. When Utah sued over the Public Lands Rule , Gov.

Spencer Cox said “the health of Utah’s lands and wildlife will suffer as a result” of the Public Lands Rule. He did not respond to requests for comment about the Trump administration eliminating the rule. Sen.

Mike Lee, Rep. Mike Kennedy and Rep. Burgess Owens also did not respond to requests for comment.

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