From day one, the Trump administration and the 119th Congress have launched countless attacks on our public lands and waters. We're tracking them here to expose these efforts to open lands to corporate polluters, at the expense of our communities and our environment.
Public lands and waters are under attack from both Congress and the Trump administration. Since January, LCV has tracked dozens of efforts by Republicans to:
These attacks all prioritize corporate interests over communities and the environment. They are only expected to continue. Join us in fighting back.
Act Now
There are 640 million acres of public lands owned and managed by the federal government, including national parks, monuments, and wilderness areas. These safeguard cultural and historic sites, protect water sources, and create $45 billion in economic output along with nearly 400,000 jobs. The Trump administration wants to sell our public lands to private interests. Tell Congress to protect our public lands.
Tell Congress: Keep Public Lands in Public Hands
The action: The Interior Department announced a comprehensive schedule to hold more than 30 offshore oil and gas lease sales by 2040, fulfilling a mandate of the “Big Ugly Bill.” The plan calls for holding four offshore lease sales by next August, and ten by 2028.
Why it matters: This action will dramatically ramp up harmful fossil fuel production in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska’s Cook Inlet. It is a reversal of the Biden administration’s five-year schedule that had called for a reduced number of lease sales in an effort to address climate change.
The action: The Department of the Interior reinstated a 2017 legal opinion that allows harmful mining near Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
Why it matters: Reinstating the legal opinion from President Trump’s first term will allow mine developers to renew hardrock leases in Minnesota’s Superior National Forest. Mining here is an existential threat to the health of the region, including one of the most pristine wilderness areas in America, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The Boundary Waters protects critical habitats, provides accessible recreational opportunities, and sustains some of the cleanest water sources in the country. The Trump administration’s decision to allow mining here blatantly disregards the health of our ecosystems and natural environments.
The action: Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced she will reorganize the USDA, which includes the U.S. Forest Service. The Forest Service’s nine Regional Offices will be closed over the next year as part of the restructuring.
Why it matters: This reorganization is part of the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to reduce the federal workforce. It comes after DOGE already fired over 3,000 Forest Service employees, decimating the staff that is critical to stewarding our public lands. The Forest Service manages 193 million acres of public lands through trail maintenance, research, habitat restoration, and wildfire management. This restructuring will limit recreational access, harm wildlife, and make communities more susceptible to wildfires.
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The action: The House Appropriations Committee, responsible for allocating government funding to federal agencies and programs, marked up the portion of the House Appropriations bill related to public lands and the environment and sent it to the House floor.
Why it matters: The Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies portion of the Appropriations bill includes many attacks on public lands. Among other things, it proposes a $61 million cut to the Department of the Interior and a $213 million cut to the National Park Service. The text also includes a number of provisions harmful to public lands and conservation efforts, such as provisions that:
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The action: President Trump signed the budget reconciliation bill, aka the “Big Ugly Bill,” into law the day after Congress narrowly passed it following months of debate.
Why it matters: Although the final budget reconciliation bill did not include Senator Mike Lee’s proposal to sell off over three million acres of public lands, the newly signed law is still one of the biggest sell-offs to the fossil fuel and extractive industries in history. It greatly expands coal mining, logging, and oil and gas drilling on public lands, including in the Arctic. Among other things, it:
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The action: President Trump signed an executive order to “Make America Beautiful Again” and announced a commission dedicated to this initiative.
Why it matters: The executive order and commission announcement include language about protecting public lands and conserving our outdoor recreation areas. However, they also set the stage for future attacks on our public lands and land management agencies by calling for voluntary conservation efforts rather than ones required by law. In addition, the executive order revokes a previous executive order that called for building a more diverse and inclusive federal workforce. Federal workers from all backgrounds are crucial stewards of our public lands, and help tell the story of America at parks, monuments, forests, and recreation areas across the country.
The action: Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and the USDA announced the rollback of the Roadless Rule, which has protected old-growth forests from logging and roadbuilding since 2001.
Why it matters: Rescinding this rule will allow logging and damaging construction in millions of acres of our wildest places. Tongass National Forest is one example, where over nine million undeveloped acres of land will lose protections. Increased logging and development in national forests will also increase the risk of wildfires. Wildfires are four times more likely to start in forest areas with roads, according to a study by The Wilderness Society.
The Roadless Rule has proven extremely popular, with millions weighing in to support it over the last three decades. Repealing this rule is yet another example of the Trump administration stripping public lands protections to benefit corporate interests at the expense of the American people.
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The action: BLM released a new draft Integrated Activity Plan for the Western Arctic calling for expanding oil and gas development in the region by over seven million acres.
Why it matters: This proposed plan prioritizes oil and gas development over protecting critical wildlife habitat and subsistence resources in the Western Arctic – one of the most ecologically important landscapes in the world. Once adopted, it will bring the total area of land eligible for leasing and development to over 80% of the region. It will also eliminate several Special Areas specifically designated to protect habitats for endangered species and cultural resources for Indigenous communities. What’s worse, the Trump administration only provided a two-week comment period for public input.
The action: Representative Mike Ezell (R-MS) introduced a bill titled “To unleash America’s offshore critical minerals and resources.” It would direct federal agencies to speed up the process for issuing permits for deep-sea mining within the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), the submerged lands off the coast of the U.S. managed by the federal government.
Why it matters: No commercial-scale deep-sea mining is currently happening anywhere in the world. But the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress view it as the next frontier in selling off our public lands and waters. Deep-sea mining is expensive, untested, and likely to cause widespread and irreversible harm to ocean ecosystems like those within the Outer Continental Shelf.
The action: Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), the Chair of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, released the first version of Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee reconciliation text. This version included a proposal to sell off up to three million acres of Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management land across 11 Western states in the next five years.
Why it matters: Although this amendment was ultimately struck down due to massive public outcry, the proposal would have sold off huge swaths of public land to states and private entities. This would have been devastating for the millions of Americans who visit public lands to hike, camp, hunt, and fish.
The action: Representative Tim Burchett (R-TN) introduced a bill that would codify President Trump’s April executive order instructing federal agencies to speed up the process for issuing permits for mining on the seafloor in both U.S. and international waters.
Why it matters: Like Trump’s April executive order, this bill attempts to sell off our public waters to corporate polluters. Deep-sea mining is expensive, untested, and likely to cause widespread and irreversible harm to ocean ecosystems.
The action: The Department of the Interior released a proposal to roll back protections designed to limit oil and gas development within Special Areas in the Western Arctic.
Why it matters: Special Areas protect wildlife habitats for species like polar bears and caribou, and conserve cultural lands important for Indigenous subsistence hunters. Repealing these protections will harm endangered wildlife, worsen the impacts of climate change, and threaten the rights of Indigenous peoples who have called this land home since time immemorial. The proposed repeal also contradicts public interest; 250,000 public comments were submitted just a year ago to strengthen Special Areas protections.
The action: The Department of Justice released a legal opinion stating that the Antiquities Act gives presidents unlimited authority to abolish national monuments.
Why it matters: This legal opinion directly contradicts a longstanding DOJ opinion from 1938 that monuments cannot be revoked once established under the Antiquities Act, and builds the groundwork for future monument recissions. The Trump Administration has already signaled interest in revoking current monuments like Chuckwalla in California and Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante in Utah. Since the Antiquities Act was signed into law in 1906, 18 presidents – 9 from each party – have used it to designate over 150 national monuments.
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The action: During a late-night markup of the reconciliation bill in the House Natural Resources Committee, Representatives Mark Amodei (R-NV) and Celeste Maloy (R-UT) proposed an amendment to sell off over half a million acres of public lands in Nevada and Utah.
Why it matters: Though this amendment was eventually stripped out of the bill thanks to pushback from many House Democrats, as well as Representative Ryan Zinke (R-MT), it would have sold off hundreds of thousands of acres of public lands. This would have denied local communities a say in what happens to their public lands. It also would have been devastating for the people who rely on these lands for their recreation and livelihoods.
The action: The Trump administration released its budget proposal for fiscal year 2026, which includes hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts to land management agencies and conservation programs. It also calls for undoing national monuments and transferring national park sites to states.
Why it matters: If enacted, the proposed budget would decrease funding for public land agencies by more than a third of 2024 levels and turn over numerous public lands to state control. It would also cut funding to, or redirect money away from, programs that fund state and local conservation efforts, such as the Land and Water Conservation Fund. This is yet another part of the Trump administration’s efforts to gut land management agencies and sell off our public lands. For everyday visitors to public lands, it will mean more crowded trails, longer lines, and more closed campgrounds and recreation spaces.
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The action: The Washington Post reported that the Trump administration is considering reducing or eliminating several national monuments, including Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni-Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon, Ironwood Forest, Chuckwalla, Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks, Bears Ears, and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments. Together, these monuments comprise over five million acres of public land in the West.
Why it matters: Though the list of monuments has not been made public, the Trump administration’s consideration of these attacks suggests that attempts to shrink or dispose of these monuments are coming soon. Monuments both new and old protect our most sacred and treasured places, telling the story of our nation and providing spaces to recreate and explore the outdoors. Stripping protections for them is deeply unpopular. Recent polling shows that 89 percent of Western voters oppose reducing or removing protections for national monuments.
The action: President Trump signed an executive order instructing federal agencies to speed up the process for issuing permits for mining on the seafloor in both U.S. and international waters.
Why it matters: This executive order kickstarts the sell-off of our waters to corporate polluters. While there are currently no commercial-scale deep-sea mining operations anywhere in the world, companies have long eyed the ocean floor as a potential source of critical minerals. Deep-sea mining is expensive, untested, and likely to cause widespread and irreversible harm to ocean ecosystems.
The action: President Trump signed an executive order removing restrictions on commercial fishing within the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument and called for a review of opening all other marine national monuments to commercial fishing.
Why it matters: This executive order and accompanying fact sheet signal the Trump administration’s prioritization of corporate interests over the environment, not just on our public lands, but also in our public waters. The waters protected within marine national monuments are home to hosts of endangered species. The Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument also protects critical cultural resources for Pacific Islanders. Reducing protections to our marine national monuments, including by opening them to commercial fishing, will have devastating impacts on marine ecosystems, as even short-term commercial fishing can inflict irreparable harm.
The action: During consideration of the congressional budget, the Senate rejected an amendment introduced by Senators Hickenlooper (D-CO) and Heinrich (D-NM) to prevent the sell-off of public lands from being included in future budget reconciliation bills.
Why it matters: This amendment would have prevented Congress from using proceeds from public lands sales to reduce the federal deficit, thus preventing any public lands sales from being included in budget reconciliation bills. Its failure allows for future public lands sales in future reconciliation bills.
The action: Representative Mariannette Miller Meeks (R-IA) introduced a bill titled Congressional Oversight of the Antiquities Act, which would require increased Congressional oversight of national monument designations made under the Antiquities Act.
Why it matters: The Antiquities Act gives the president authority to safeguard landscapes of extraordinary cultural, historical, and ecological value through national monuments. It has been used 300 times by an equal number of Democratic and Republican presidents to designate national monuments across the country. By requiring increased Congressional involvement in this process, this bill would limit the use of a critical tool for protecting public lands.
The action: The Trump administration launched a joint Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Department of the Interior (DOI) task force to identify and sell public lands under the guise of addressing the housing crisis.
Why it matters: Though the affordable housing crisis is a real issue worth addressing, selling off our public lands is not a solution. Most public lands are unsuitable for housing development due to their remote nature and distance from population centers. Selling off public lands to developers without guardrails will do nothing to fix the affordable housing crisis and will harm the environment, as well as people’s access to nature and recreation.
The action: President Trump signed two executive orders that call for rolling back protections for national forests and expanding logging within their boundaries.
Why it matters: These executive orders prioritize short-term logging profits over long-term forest health. Although they claim to promote proper forest management, the orders will threaten wildlife, disrupt ecosystems, and lead to increased wildfire risk in forests across the country. The Tongass National Forest in Alaska – the world’s largest intact temperate rainforest – is particularly threatened; millions more acres will be logged within its boundaries as a result of this attack.
The action: Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought issued a memo telling federal agencies to prepare for reorganizations and large-scale layoffs.
Why it matters: This guidance shows that gutting our federal agencies, including those that manage our public lands, is an ongoing Trump Administration priority. Large-scale layoffs at the agencies that manage our public lands will make parks and public lands less safe, less clean, less accessible, and more crowded.
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The action: Representative Mark Amodei (R-NV) introduced the Mining Regulatory Clarity Act of 2025, which would expand mining companies’ ability to use public lands and dump toxic waste.
Why it matters: This bill supports Republicans’ goal of selling off our public lands to polluting industries. It includes sweeping provisions that would allow mining companies to use public lands whether or not they prove to have valuable mineral deposits, including as sites to dump toxic waste. Mining is already a major source of water pollution and contamination, and it is critical to ensure that mining laws and standards are strengthened to protect communities and the environment. This bill would do the opposite.
The action: Over Valentine’s Day weekend, the Trump administration fired over 2,000 staff at the Department of the Interior, including around 1,000 at the National Park Service, and hundreds from other land management agencies such as the Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Land Management.
Why it matters: Workers at these agencies are tasked with caring for the public lands we know and love. Though some have been reinstated following court challenges, this mass firing leaves our public lands less safe and less accessible.
The action: President Trump signed an executive order telling the heads of executive branch agencies to prepare for a large-scale reduction in force.
Why it matters: This executive order will gut the agencies that manage our public lands. Reducing staff at the National Parks Service, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will make parks and public lands less safe, less clean, less accessible, and more crowded.
The action: Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) introduced a bill that would require the Secretary of the Interior to approve a plan to allow the operators of the Bull Mountain coal mine in Montana to begin mining within 30 days. The bill would also allow more federal coal reserves within the state to be mined.
Why it matters: This bill opens lands to corporate polluters at the expense of our communities and the environment. Coal mining is damaging to our lands, waters, air, and wildlife, and can permanently scar landscapes while releasing dozens of hazardous air pollutants.
The action: Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum signed a series of Secretarial Orders that call for reducing regulations on dirty energy production, and reviewing all national monument designations and administrative mineral withdrawals.
Why it matters: These Secretarial Orders start the process of opening up a wide range of public lands – including national monuments and lands in Alaska’s Arctic – to mining, drilling, and resource extraction. Doing so will be devastating to the wide range of animals and people who call these places home and rely on them for clean air, clean water, and outdoor recreation.
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The action: Representative Elijah Crane (R-AZ) introduced a bill that would remove protections for public lands in New Mexico by nullifying a 2023 Bureau of Land Management decision to withdraw them from mineral extraction.
Why it matters: This bill is an attempt to sell off our public lands to corporate polluters like mining companies. Mining is a major source of water pollution and other environmental harm, and one that disproportionately impacts Indigenous communities. Mining near Chaco Culture National Historical Park, which protects the ancestral home of the Pueblo people and is a sacred site for many Indigenous peoples throughout the Southwest, would be especially damaging.
The action: On his first day in office, President Trump signed several executive orders declaring a national “energy emergency” and calling for increased oil and gas production on public lands.
Why it matters: These orders not only ignore the need for clean energy to help meet our future energy demands, but also kickstart the process of drastically expanding drilling, mining, and resource extraction on some of our most treasured public lands. Among other things, the executive orders call for expanding oil and gas leasing in the Alaskan Arctic, one of the most ecologically and culturally important ecosystems on the planet and a landscape critical to our fight against climate change. Oil and gas drilling in the Arctic would destroy millions of acres of habitat for endangered species, release carbon stored in the frozen soil into the atmosphere, and threaten the rights and subsistence resources of the Indigenous peoples who live there.
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The action: Representative Clay Higgins (R-LA) introduced the Offshore Lands Authorities Act of 2025, which would nullify President Biden’s withdrawal of unleashed offshore lands from mineral extraction and oil and gas drilling. It would also limit future presidents’ ability to withdraw offshore lands from resource extraction.
Why it matters: This bill would drastically expand drilling, mining and resource extraction across our most treasured public lands and waters, and would reverse a major win for the environment and our oceans. Offshore drilling poses major risks to the marine environment, and contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change.
The action: Representative Celeste Maloy (R-UT) and Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced the Ending Presidential Overreach on Public Lands Act, which would prevent presidents from designating national monuments using the Antiquities Act.
Why it matters: This bill is a direct attack on a critical tool for protecting America’s most treasured places. The Antiquities Act enables presidents to safeguard landscapes of extraordinary cultural, historical, and ecological value through national monuments. It has been used 300 times by an equal number of Democratic and Republican presidents to designate national monuments across the country.
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The action: Representative Jodey Arrington (R-TX) and Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) introduced a bill that would nullify two presidential memoranda from the Biden administration that withdrew parts of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) – the submerged lands off the coast of the US managed by the federal government – from oil and gas leasing.
Why it matters: This bill would reverse a major win for the environment and our oceans, and allow the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to issue new offshore oil and gas leases in places that had previously been withdrawn from offshore drilling. Offshore drilling poses major risks to the marine environment, and contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change.
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