Legal Experts Comment on Public Lands Rule

On June 15, 2023, 27 legal experts sent a letter to Bureau of Land Management (BLM) director Tracy Stone Manning reiterating the legality of the Conservation and Landscape Health Rule, known as the Public Lands Rule. In the letter, the signatories write,

“At the highest level, the proposed rule tracks closely to and is consistent with Congress’s clearly expressed intentions in FLPMA that BLM manage the public lands for conservation, as well as consumption, that is, ‘for multiple use and sustained yield.’

Public lands must be managed “in a manner that will protect the quality of scientific, scenic, historical, ecological, environmental, air and atmospheric, water resources, and archaeological values ... [and] that, where appropriate, will preserve and protect certain public lands in their natural condition.” Congress directed that BLM “establish comprehensive rules and regulations after considering the views of the public” to effectuate these goals. That is precisely what BLM is doing with this proposed rule.”