Weekly Watch: America Supports the Public Lands Rule, Burgum Doesn’t
Burgum Poised to Ignore the Vast Majority of Americans Who Oppose Repealing the Public Lands Rule
HELENA, MT – Save Our Parks is tracking the massive assault against America’s national parks and public lands system by Donald Trump, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, and their cronies, documenting the ongoing consequences of Trump’s unprecedented attack on our nation’s natural heritage.
Trump and Congressional Republicans’ historic government shutdown has meant millions of dollars in lost revenue for America’s national parks, which have suffered destruction of property, graffiti, wildfires, “bear jams,” and dangerous activities like BASE jumping with little to no supervision from furloughed park employees and rangers. But with the government reopening and Democrats ensuring federal employees get paid, Burgum has not uttered a single word about needed funding to make our parks whole again. The end of the shutdown does mean that it’s back to bad business as usual for jet-setting Burgum, who, instead of fighting to fully fund the parks and public lands ostensibly in his care, is too busy focusing on the exterior and exporting domestic energy abroad.
Case in Point: Burgum will almost assuredly ignore the near-universal view of Americans who have said loud and clear that they do not want the Conservation and Landscape Health Rule, also known as the Public Lands Rule, repealed. Proposed in 2023 and implemented in 2024, the Public Lands Rule gave conservation, ecosystem restoration, and public access equal weight with things like mining and drilling, Trump and Burgum’s preferred exploitative uses for America’s land.
Remember, this rule realized the true intent and potential of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 by putting all multiple uses on the same footing in decision-making. But now, Burgum’s Interior Department is preparing to repeal the rule and undo that progress, which is all part of Trump and Burgum’s giveaways to their fossil fuel and extractive industries donors and buddies. Burgum is hellbent on delivering for Trump’s allies, and he is cheerleading them on by opening every acre of our public lands to exploitation, the American people be damned.
A brand-new analysis by the Center for Western Priorities found that 98% of the public comments on the proposed repeal were against it. That matches the CWP’s analysis from 2023 that found 92% of public commenters supported the implementation of the Rule. Earlier this week, dozens of members of Congress, representing almost half of U.S. states and over 100 million acres of Bureau of Land Management land, sent a letter to Burgum and acting BLM Director Bill Groffy, imploring them to maintain the Rule. The lawmakers noted that the “Rule is critical to meeting BLM’s statutory obligations, sustaining and realizing the benefits of multiple uses compatible with public lands, and ensuring these special landscapes remain healthy and productive for all Americans to enjoy for years to come.” Well, if Trump and Burgum have anything to say about it, those special landscapes, America’s birthright, won’t be healthy for years to come. Quite the opposite.
Trump and Republicans’ historic government shutdown offered a crystal-clear vision for the future of America’s parks and public lands, and it isn’t one where Americans enjoy them far into the future. Burgum’s mismanagement of our parks is a feature, not a bug, of his tenure as Interior Secretary, and his master plan would sell out America’s public lands for pennies on the dollar, gut funding for park upkeep and staff, and throw open the doors of these sacred spaces for drilling and mining. This parks and public lands fail-by-design plan Burgum is orchestrating runs counter to public opinion, the vast majority of Americans’ values, and it’s a recipe for a midterm ballot box revolt.
Repealing the Public Lands Rule is just a sneak preview of what’s to come. See Trump’s latest anti-public lands nominee to lead the Bureau of Land Management, Steve Pearce, if you have any doubts.
Parks and Public Lands in the News:
Safety and Preparedness
The Cool Down: Officials issue PSA as national parks suffer amid government shutdown: 'Illegal and dangerous activity'
“According to Axios, rangers and maintenance crews have been furloughed, leaving vast stretches of land without supervision. In their absence, visitors have reportedly toppled historic stone walls at Gettysburg's Devil's Den, set fires that burned through more than 70 acres at Joshua Tree National Park, and left illegal graffiti scrawled across red rock formations at Utah's Arches National Park.”
Privatization and Sell-Offs
Westwise: Trump’s new pick to run the BLM has a history of working to sell off public land
“President Donald Trump has nominated Steve Pearce, a former U.S. representative from New Mexico, to run the Bureau of Land Management, the federal agency that oversees 245 million acres of national public lands. In Congress, Pearce amassed a lengthy anti-public lands record, co-sponsoring numerous bills that would have undermined the Antiquities Act, made it easier to sell off national public lands, and facilitated and expedited oil and gas drilling on public lands.”
Denver Post: Opinion: Trump is setting up our National Parks for failure — to be sold or taken over by private interests
“For over a month, the longest government shutdown in American history has left our national parks in free fall. When the shutdown began in October, the Interior Department sent over 9,000 Park Service staff home without pay, with orders to leave most parks open with gates unlocked. Since then, visitors have continued flocking to parks: More than 25,000 visitors poured into Utah’s Zion National Park on a single day; at New Mexico’s Bandelier National Monument, hikers went off-trail across closed restoration areas; at Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park, sightseers walked through sensitive meadows, ignoring posted signs.”
News Dakota: Senators Want Public Lands Rule Revoked
“Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, who chairs the Senate Western Caucus, joined 11 other GOP senators in issuing ‘strong support’ in a letter for rescinding the public lands rule that elevated conservation as an official use of BLM lands. In September, the Department proposed revoking the rule that was put in place during 2024, and the 60-day comment period recently concluded.”
E&E News: Western Republicans push Burgum to kill public lands rule
“Republican senators are encouraging Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to follow through on months of evaluation and revoke the Biden-era public lands rule that critics say restricts uses on millions of acres overseen by the Bureau of Land Management. Led by Senate Western Caucus Chair Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, the 12 GOP senators issued ‘strong support’ in the letter for rescinding the public lands rule that elevated conservation as a formal use of BLM lands.”
News Break: Trump Admin Announces Energy and AI Deal
“Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has announced a U.S. plan to establish a global trading club for critical minerals, connecting access to AI and advanced manufacturing. He emphasized the link between energy abundance, diplomacy, and national security. The initiative coincided with a U.S.–UAE Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in energy and AI.”
Community Impacts
E&E News: Trump cuts and meddling at national parks unpopular, poll finds
“The Trump administration’s efforts to cull staff at the National Park Service and reshape the agency’s portrayal of U.S. history were unpopular with a majority of people polled in a survey commissioned by the National Parks Conservation Association. More than 60 percent of those polled opposed further cuts to NPS staff when told that roughly 25 percent of the parks’ permanent workforce was estimated to have exited since President Donald Trump took office.”
Axios: "Bear jams," graffiti and fires: National parks suffer during shutdown
“America's national parks — partially open despite the government shutdown — have become playgrounds for unsupervised visitors who are wreaking havoc on wildlife and fragile ecosystems. President Trump's decision to keep the parks open against the wishes of conservationists risks causing permanent damage to some of America's most beloved locations.”
Los Angeles Times: Why did national parks look so normal during this shutdown?
“But advocates and sources say that behind the scenes, conditions are far from business as usual. Parks officials were directed to keep employees who perform front-facing visitor services, such as maintenance and sanitation, on duty, along with essential law enforcement and emergency functions. By contrast, many of those who work in conservation, research and education were told to stay home. Some employees reporting to work are getting paid, while many others aren’t.”
Utah News Dispatch: With shutdown staffing, investigating graffiti in Arches could be a big lift
“The retired park ranger who spotted graffiti last week in Arches National Park says she’s worried bare-bones staffing in the government shutdown is making it harder for the park to find out who’s responsible for the vandalism and clean it up. Allyson Mathis was hiking with a friend Nov. 5 in Devils Garden, a popular hiking area with arch and spire formations, when she spotted white paint on several rocks in the shape of hand prints, a smiley face, other shapes, and writing that said ‘Grug.’”
The Street: Another dangerous national park activity proliferates during shutdown
“While national parks known for their wildlife have always dealt with traffic problems around sites where they are present, the shutdown has exacerbated a problem that some national park workers have dubbed the ‘bear jam.’ Used to describe the pile-up that occurs both when bears and other wildlife block the road and when travelers cause the jam themselves by stopping the car outside a designated spot to take a picture of wildlife they encountered when driving, the ‘bear jam’ has become an especially common situation in Yellowstone.”
Stories on the Trail
@protectNPS: Your park visit may seem normal. But behind the scenes, rangers are working longer hours, with fewer staff & no pay, to keep that illusion alive.
@protectNPS: States & nonprofits are helping parks during the shutdown, but at what cost? Former Glacier NP superintendent Jeff Mow warns: “Parks aren’t designed to operate during shutdowns, you’ll never have enough staff, you can’t provide for visitor safety.”
@western.priorities: Would ya look at that? 👀 Who could have guessed people LOVE public lands and want to see them managed for future generations??
@keepparkspublic: Arches was just vandalized with graffiti. This is what happens when staffing and resource cuts hit our national parks.
The Crisis Continues:
The crisis continues to escalate across America’s 640-million-acre public lands system and is poised to get worse after Trump’s spending package, passed by Congressional Republicans, slashed some $267 million of previously committed funding for national parks. The National Park Service has lost nearly a quarter of its permanent workforce since Trump took office, with some parks now operating without superintendents and at half-staff during peak visitation. Between Trump, DOGE, and Republicans’ draconian budget cuts, hiring freezes, and workforce reductions, the staffing shortages are forcing scientists, park rangers, and other safety personnel to clean toilets and pick up garbage instead of conducting critical work like ongoing maintenance and supporting visitor safety.
Save Our Parks documents and exposes conditions across America’s federal park and public lands system through monitoring reports, visitor testimonials, and accountability research. The campaign maintains comprehensive documentation through its website at SaveOurParks.us.
To speak with Save Our Parks spokesperson Jayson O’Neill, email jayson@focalpointstrategygroup.com.
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