BREAKING: Data Center Doug Burgum Is Plotting to Hand Over More Public Lands to Data Center AI Developers
New Reporting Confirms Interior Is Combing Federal Lands for Data Center Sites as Burgum's Backroom Dealing With Tech and Energy CEOs Comes Into Focus
HELENA, MT – Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has quietly ordered Bureau of Land Management (BLM) state directors to identify public lands for data center development and hand the lists up to his Interior Department leadership, according to a new investigation from The Washington Sun. According to BLM officials, Burgum and his team gave state directors just three days to compile the lists and made clear the assignment was a top priority.
The revelation confirms that Burgum, the billionaire former tech executive turned-Interior Secretary, is treating America's public lands as inventory for Big Tech buddies, data center developers, and energy executives, not as a public trust. The story comes a day after Burgum appeared on Bloomberg from “Trump-a-Palooza” with the outrageous claim that hyperscale data centers are “lowering the cost of electricity, increasing the water.” It comes just weeks after Save Our Parks called out Burgum's National Park Service for negotiating a land swap to open up Prince William Forest Park in Virginia to a data center developer, and after BLM Director Steve Pearce iced the public out of a data center approval near Boulder City, Nevada. A federal administrative judge has temporarily halted the Boulder City project.
“Data Center Doug Burgum is actively shopping America's public lands to data center developers, the AI industry, and big energy companies lining up to power them,” said Jayson O'Neill, Save Our Parks spokesperson. “While energy prices continue to skyrocket, Burgum sat down with some of the most powerful CEOs in the data center and energy game to find ways to exploit our parks and public lands. And he’s keeping communities in the dark, hiding the details from Congress and the public.”
The Washington Sun's review of Burgum's limited calendars found the secretary held meeting after meeting last year with the who’s-who of AI, energy, venture capitalists, and private equity CEOs, executives and high ranking officials, and directed to BLM staff to prioritize data center buildout over its basic land management mission.
Burgum’s first approved data center project on public land, near Boulder City, Nevada, was halted after a judge ruled that relying on an old environmental study for a solar array at the same site was insufficient. Meanwhile, BLM has already greenlit geological and groundwater testing for a new data center development near Silver Springs, Nevada, and the National Park Service is weighing giving up 36 acres of Prince William Forest Park to another AI data center developer.
Burgum's Data Center Public Land Grab, By the Numbers:
BLM state directors were given just three days to compile lists of public lands suitable for data center development, with Burgum’s leadership calling the request a top priority
Burgum met with dozens of big energy and big tech executives last year according to a review of the limited calendars he’s released
A federal judge halted Burgum’s first approved public-lands data center, near Boulder City, Nevada, after relying on an EIS conducted for a solar project
BLM has begun conducting geological testing for a new AI data center development near Silver Springs, Nevada
The National Park Service is separately considering handing 36 acres of Prince William Forest Park in Virginia to a data center developer
BLM has lost nearly half its workforce under the Trump administration, with some state land and realty offices facing 50% vacancy rates
The pattern fits what Save Our Parks has documented for months at an Interior Department that reportedly shreds records and relies on disappearing messages to avoid a paper trail, all while Secretary Burgum and his cronies face mounting ethics questions and investigations. Burgum has made his full-throated support for AI and data center development very clear, downplaying their impacts on energy prices, water, public lands, and wildlife.
Additional Resources:
Inside Trump's Aggressive Push to Build Data Centers on Public Lands
Data Center Doug Burgum Is Shopping Around National Park Land for AI Developers
To speak with Save Our Parks spokesperson Jayson O’Neill, email jayson@focalpointstrategygroup.com.
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