Trump officials cancel rule that made conservation a ‘use’ of public lands

The Interior Department is canceling a rule that placed conservation on equal footing with development, as the Trump administration seeks to boost drilling, logging, mining, and grazing on taxpayer-owned land. The 2024 rule, adopted under former President Joe Biden, aimed to refocus the Bureau of Land Management, which oversees about 10% of land in the US, allowing public property to be leased for restoration similarly to oil companies leasing land for drilling.