The rule from the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management — which oversees more than 380,000 square miles of land, primarily in the U.S. West — will allow public property to be leased for restoration in the same way that oil companies lease land for drilling.
The rule also promotes the designation of more “areas of critical environmental concern” — a special status that can restrict development.
Republican lawmakers and industry representatives blasted the move as a backdoor way to exclude mining, energy development and agriculture from government acreage that's often cheap to lease. They assert the administration is violating the “multiple use” mandate for Interior Department lands, by catapulting the “non-use” of federal lands — meaning restoration leases — to a position of prominence.
“By putting its thumb on the scales to strongly favor conservation over other uses, this rule will obstruct responsible domestic mining projects,” said National Mining Association President Rich Nolan.
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.
"President Biden is allowing federal bureaucrats to destroy our way of life,” he said.
