The rule allowed the Bureau of Land Management, which oversees about 10% of land in the U.S., to put conservation on equal footing with resource extraction and other development.
The Interior Department is cancelling a 2024 rule adopted under former President Joe Biden that put conservation on equal footing with development, reports The Independent.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the rule, intended to allow public land to be leased for conservation and restoration the same way that it would be for resource extraction or grazing, has prevented energy and timber production and is hurting ranchers.
"The federal government's vast land holdings are concentrated in Western states including Alaska, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. Since taking office, Trump has pursued a flurry of actions aimed at boosting fossil fuel production from those taxpayer-owned sites. The Republican administration also has sought to sideline some renewable energy projects, claiming they were unfairly subsidized under Biden," reports Matthew Brown.
Read the full story, below.
FULL STORY: Trump administration cancels rule that made conservation a 'use' of public lands
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