Add Your Voice to Defend Public Lands

“As a steward of my ancestral lands, it’s crucial that the BLM recognizes the value of these sacred places beyond what can be extracted from them. My family and my customers hunt and fish on BLM managed land. Protecting and ensuring access to our public lands is vital for my business, my family, and my community.”

“Outdoor recreation plays a vital and expanding role in New Mexico’s economy. The proposed Public Lands Rule by the BLM represents a necessary step forward, aiming to foster more equitable management of our public lands. By empowering the BLM with tools to safeguard significant areas and ensuring nonconsumptive uses are given fair consideration alongside resource extraction, this rule seeks to maintain a balanced approach. Ultimately, it will safeguard the flourishing outdoor recreation economy, support businesses in this sector, protect investments made by the state, and bring benefits to communities and individuals throughout New Mexico.”

“As an elected official in a state where BLM manages two-thirds of the land, I’m in strong support of elevating conservation as a use on par with other more intensive uses. Nevadans treasure our public lands and want much of it protected for recreation access and conservation of natural and cultural resources.”

“When used wisely, the Bureau of Land Management conservation mechanisms will support our local economies, tourism, and outdoor recreation as well as provide certainty for our rural and gateway communities so we can make long-term investments. We look forward to this rule-making process and modernizing management policies to allow for increased recreational opportunities and access to nature.”

“The Public Lands Rule is absolutely vital to the environmental, ecological and economic health and well being of all the people living in the Western United States. The Rule recognizes and makes possible a more equitable balancing of interests in the West by protecting and restoring critical water bodies, landscapes and habitats, while making it possible to make wise management decisions based on science and data rather than solely on corporate interests and profits. Our jobs-at-any-cost mentality has resulted in corporations decimating large swaths of waters and lands with very little accountability to the public to whom these assets and resources actually belong.”

Description “ It’s not just the far-reaching implications of the Utah lawsuit that’s so galling; this new attempt to seize control of federal lands represent an even more sinister and polished gaslighting campaign than previously attempted. Anyone who might stumble across the State of Utah’s web-based propaganda, billboards, or press conference video of Utah Governor Spencer Cox and Attorney General Sean Reyes might be swayed by the catchy notion that public lands in Utah would be better managed by the State of Utah.”  Keep Public Lands Out of Utahs Greedy Hands, September 4, 2024. here

“The state of Utah’s push for control of public lands is a deceptive ploy to privatize and exploit our cherished landscapes. Hiding behind false promises of local management while lining the pockets of special interests at the expense of Utahn’s right to access and enjoy these lands.”

“For too long our nation’s land managers have placed too much emphasis on resource extraction above all other viable uses of public lands. It’s great to see the BLM propose a rule that finally puts conservation of our land and natural resources on par with other uses. The Rule’s recognition of Indigenous knowledge when making decisions is a refreshing approach for federal land managers to take. We have much to learn from our Indigenous communities about how to care for the natural world we inhabit, and their inclusion at the table is long overdue. My office has taken a conservation approach to state lands, using leasing options and various land restrictions to protect some of our most precious state lands. I strongly support BLM’s proposed rule because it prioritizes conservation and it is the most comprehensive and inclusive approach to land management to date.”

“If they succeed, the public could lose access to millions of acres that we use to pursue our favorite outdoor activities, wildlife could lose its habitat, and the environment could suffer. Worse, if the Supreme Court accepts the theory that states should have control over federal land, the upshot could be devastating. It could create precedent that might allow politicians in other western states to do the same.”

"Including natural values when making public land use decisions is long overdue. Disruptive activities including mining and fossil fuel development often cause irreversible damage to lands owned and valued by the public. This proposed rule reflects the importance of protecting public recreation and habitat and other natural values."

“The future of our wildlife, fisheries, and clean water are of the utmost importance for generations to come. We must continue our conservation efforts for all New Mexicans using these resources. BLM’s proposed Public Lands Rule is an important step in this direction.”

“The new Bureau of Land Management rule will help ensure balanced use of our public lands, including in Oregon's incredible high desert. This remarkable area where we fish and hunt supports our communities and our way of life. The new regulation recognizes the cultural, economic, and environmental necessity of prioritizing conservation as our legacy and gift to future generations.”

“I've been a wildland firefighter, conservation director, sportsmen’s group coordinator, conservation organization board member, public lands user, volunteer, and citizen scientist over decades of exploring, enjoying and caring for the sagebrush biome. The new BLM public lands rule is an incredible opportunity to rebalance the agency's management priorities to promote conservation and healthy communities across this landscape.”

“I fully support the proposed BLM public lands rule, giving conservation land management an equal weight in our public lands decision making process. It is vital for all life to keep our water systems and natural landscapes clean and healthy.”

“The Public Lands Rule will allow BLM to better manage natural and cultural resources across the West, as well as bring balance to the Agency’s multiuse approach. Extractive industries have long held sway over Public land usage and this rule will elevate conservation and recreation to their proper place in management practices. I’m excited to see the Rule implemented across the Greater Chaco Landscape, with protection of millenia-old ancestral sites and landscapes to finally be prioritized.”

“The BLM has a long history of favoring industrial uses of public lands, but the law has always given it a broader mission, including protecting environmentally important landscapes. This new rule is legally solid and long overdue in helping BLM meet its conservation mandate.”

“The time has certainly arrived and, in reality, is overdue for BLM to put the protection of New Mexico’s and our nation’s wildest public lands, the health of crucial rivers and streams and the integrity of its irreplaceable sacred sites and cultural resources on even footing extractive industry. Learn More “

“Over 120 local elected officials from western states have called on the Biden administration to protect more Bureau of Land Management lands as part of the administration’s America the Beautiful initiative. We look forward to the BLM using this rulemaking process to conserve and protect our nation’s important public lands, wildlife and waters in tandem with locally-led efforts to advance conservation across the west.”

"As an outdoor business owner in Colorado, protected public lands play a critical role in my business and way of life. Protecting more of these BLM lands can help support local economies, local tourism industries and even local manufacturing like our Grand Junction-based outdoor brand while preserving our outstanding opportunities for recreation, including camping, hiking, paddling, hunting and fishing. I strongly encourage the Department of Interior and Bureau of Land Management to do all that they can to better conserve and protect our nation’s important public lands and waters. By doing so, they will provide opportunities for outdoor recreation, equitable access to nature, and safeguard the climate which will ensure that these important public lands continue to offer the unique recreational opportunities that bring millions of Americans to the great outdoors.”

Hells Canyon Wilderness, Arizona | Bureau of Land Management

Piper Mountain Wilderness, California | Bob Wick

Sutton Mountain Wilderness, Oregon | Bob Wick

Aravaipa Canyon Wilderness, Arizona | Bob Wick

Steelhead Falls Wilderness Study Area | Bob Wick

Tunnison Mountain Wilderness Study Area, California | Bob Wick

Handies Peak Wilderness Study Area, Colorado | Bob Wick

Oregon Buttes Wilderness Study Area, Wyoming | Sam Cox

Bear Trap Canyon Wilderness, Montana | Bob Wick

North Maricopa Mountains Wilderness, AZ | Bureau of Land Management

Pine Forest Range Wilderness, Nevada | Bob Wick and Rita Ayers