On June 10th, the Department of the Interior announced a 60-day public comment period to review wilderness stewardship policies and recreational climbing guidance. This "review" is a thinly veiled attempt to weaken foundational protections for nearly 200 million acres of  America’s wildest remaining public lands. It opens the door to rolling back protections for Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs) and Lands with Wilderness Characteristics (LWCs) on BLM lands, as well as similar policies for identifying and protecting wilderness-quality lands managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service. Additionally, the agencies also released new guidance to implement climbing management requirements from the EXPLORE Act signed into law in 2025.

By claiming the review is about "removing unnecessary barriers," the administration is trying to obscure the fact that this effort aims to weaken protections, paving the way for short-term extractive industries, commercial development, and resource fragmentation at the expense of long-term conservation management of some of our wildest remaining public lands. Moreover, continuing to protect wilderness qualities is consistent with protecting recreation. In many cases, wilderness-quality lands provide the best opportunities for backcountry recreation. These important policies are critical to the future of recreation. The Department of the Interior’s actions present a false choice between stewarding wilderness lands and providing opportunities for recreation.

Flooding the Zone: Interior is seeking public comment on eight separate policy and guidance documents across three federal land management agencies, including: 

Bureau of Land Management (BLM)

• Recreational Climbing Guidance (EXPLORE Act implementation)

• Manual 6330 – Management of Wilderness Study Areas

• Manual 6320 – Considering Lands with Wilderness Characteristics

• Manual 6340 – Management of Designated Wilderness Areas

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)

• Wilderness Administration and Resource Stewardship

• Wilderness Administration and Resource Stewardship: Managing Climbing Activities in Wilderness
  

National Park Service (NPS)

• Wilderness Stewardship Policy Review

• EXPLORE Act - Mandated Wilderness Climbing Guidance

Another Step in a Systematic Attack on Public Lands

This action is part of a broader effort to weaken protections for America's public lands and shift management priorities away from the public interest and toward private development. From rescinding the Public Lands Rule, to repealing the Roadless Rule, to eliminating longstanding off-road vehicle safeguards, to expanding oil, gas, and mining development across public lands, the pattern is clear: dismantle protections first, then open the door to industrial exploitation. The review of wilderness stewardship policies is simply the latest attempt to remove the guardrails that have protected some of America's most iconic and ecologically important public lands for decades.

Initial Comments from Public Land Advocates

Name and Title TBD, Center for Western Priorities - “The Trump administration is laying the groundwork for an attack on America’s wilderness with these reviews. While the notices themselves don’t tell us much about the administration’s intentions, we know President Trump and Interior Secretary Burgum aren’t interested in increasing protections for America’s public lands. Wilderness designations are the most powerful tool we have to protect sensitive and ecologically important public lands. We’ll be watching closely for any attempt by the Trump administration to undercut existing or future protections for America’s wildlands.”

Kara Matsumoto, Senior Policy Director of the Conservation Lands Foundation - “This maneuver opens the door for an attack on America’s wilderness and is a direct threat to the tools used to make sure the country still has natural places that are undisturbed by development. Under the guise of a routine policy update, the agency is targeting some of the West’s most exceptional landscapes—essential places that safeguard wildlife habitat, support quiet recreation including hunting and fishing, and fuel local rural economies. Once these wild places are opened to development and degraded, they cannot simply be restored. Americans expect leaders to protect our shared heritage, not rewrite the rules to favor short-term exploitation at the expense of our last, best wild places. The Conservation Lands Foundation and our network of 90 Friends groups across the West will be defending our wild places every step of the way.”

Abby Tinsley, senior vice president of conservation programs at The Wilderness Society - “Americans love our wild public lands, both for the wildlife habitat these places safeguard, and the freedom they provide us to hike, camp and otherwise enjoy the outdoors. Over the last 16 months, the administration has waged a war on wildlands that targets these places, and we have every reason to believe that this review is part of it. Their goal is to make it easier to push reckless development, drilling, mining and unchecked motorized activity on the tiny sliver of our wildest public lands that remains, including wilderness and wilderness study areas.

“If Secretary Burgum truly wants to prioritize outdoor recreation opportunities for current and future generations, the administration should reverse the many steps they’ve taken to reduce staffing and funding and otherwise impair agency capacity to ensure people can responsibly enjoy outdoor places.”

Frequently Asked Questions

What Happened?

On June 10, 2026, the Department of the Interior announced a 60-day public comment period on recreational climbing guidance and wilderness stewardship policies across the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), National Park Service (NPS), and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). The comment periods close on August 14, 2026.

While the announcement highlights implementation of recreational climbing provisions contained in the EXPLORE Act, the review also includes several longstanding wilderness stewardship policies and manuals that guide the management of designated wilderness areas, Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs), and lands with wilderness characteristics.

Why Did the Department of the Interior Combine Rock Climbing Guidance Updates With a Broader Review of Wilderness Policies?

The Department has not publicly provided a detailed explanation for combining these issues into a single review process.

The EXPLORE Act directed federal land management agencies to review and update recreational climbing guidance in wilderness areas. In addition to climbing guidance, DOI's review includes broader wilderness stewardship policies across multiple agencies. The broader policy reviews are not necessary to implement the climbing-related provisions of the Explore Act.

How Many Policies and Guidance Documents Is the Department of the Interior Reviewing?

The Department is seeking public comment on at least eight policy and guidance documents across three federal land management agencies.

What About the Forest Service?

The U.S. Forest Service has separately sought public input on climbing guidance related to implementation of the EXPLORE Act. The Forest Service process is focused on climbing management and does not currently include a broader review of wilderness stewardship policies. 

What Are These Wilderness Policies and Why Do They Matter?

These policies guide how federal agencies identify, manage, and steward designated wilderness areas, Wilderness Study Areas, and lands with wilderness characteristics. Together, they influence the management of millions of acres of federal public lands.

The policies help agencies implement statutory responsibilities under laws such as the Wilderness Act of 1964 and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act. They provide direction on issues ranging from wilderness stewardship and recreational use to wilderness inventories and management of lands that may possess wilderness characteristics.

As administrative guidance documents, these policies help translate statutory requirements into day-to-day management decisions.

How Much Public Land Will Be Affected?

Nearly 200 million acres of wild lands across the west could be impacted by this review, including approximately 120 million acres of Wilderness Study Areas and wilderness quality lands and 75 million acres of designated wilderness areas.

Could Repealing These Policies Impact Future Protections for Wilderness?

Potentially.

While Congress retains authority to designate new wilderness areas, agency policies play an important role in identifying, evaluating, and managing lands with wilderness characteristics. Changes to those policies could influence how agencies inventory such lands, how wilderness characteristics are considered in management decisions, and what information is available for future wilderness evaluations.

The extent of any impact would depend on the specific policy changes ultimately adopted and how agencies implement them.