that's meant to put conservation on more equal footing with oil drilling, grazing and other extractive industries on vast government-owned properties.
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said the changes would “restore balance” to how the U.S. government manages its public lands. The new rule continues the administration's efforts to use science to restore habitats and guide “strategic and responsible development,” Haaland said in a statement.to exclude mining, energy development and agriculture from government acreage that's often cheap to lease.
Environmentalists largely embraced the changes adopted Thursday, characterizing them as long overdue. Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, a staunch Biden critic, on Thursday said he will introduce legislation to repeal the public lands rule. The Republican lawmaker alleged it would block access to areas that people in Wyoming depend on for mineral production, grazing and recreation.But Democratic Rep. Raul Grijalva of New Mexico said protecting public lands has wide support among the American people.
Those leases were referred to as “conservation leases” in the agency's original proposal last year. That was changed to “restoration leases” and “mitigation leases” in the final rule, but their purpose appears largely the same.