Washington — Six organizations sent a letter to the Acting Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), warning that at least 5,033 oil and gas leases — covering nearly 4 million acres — may now be legally invalid. The letter asks the agency to halt all new leasing and permitting until it “ensure[s] compliance with the law and remed[ies] this grave legal uncertainty.” Ultimately, Congress must fix the legal crisis it created. The letter details how Congress' unprecedented use of the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to overturn BLM Resource Management Plans (RMPs) has called into question the legal efficacy of every land management plan finalized since 1996. These plans don't just guide management decisions; they enable everything that happens on public lands, from oil and gas drilling to recreation, grazing, and wildlife protection. If land use plans may now be invalid, then thousands of oil and gas leases and drilling permits issued under them may also be invalid Congress Was Warned About CRA Consequences When Republican members of Congress voted in October to use the CRA to overturn three RMPs in Alaska, Montana, and North Dakota, they ignored urgent warnings from conservationists, legal scholars, former BLM officials, and even some energy industry voices about the chaos this would unleash. The agency's own Solicitor’s Office cautioned that treating RMPs as “rules” could call into question the validity of every BLM plan since 1996 — along with the leases, grazing permits, rights-of-way, and other decisions based on those plans. Thirty leading law professors warned that this move could jeopardize “thousands of leases and management decisions across hundreds of millions of acres.” Former BLM leaders said overturning land-use plans under the CRA would “undermine the basis for authorizations” and create widespread legal uncertainty for energy developers, ranchers, and recreation permittees, threatening the integrity of the entire planning system. But Congress ignored these warnings — and is now moving ahead with even more CRA resolutions that will escalate the crisis. "By incorrectly treating land use plans as rules under the Congressional Review Act, Congress hasn't just overturned three plans — they've thrown every plan finalized since 1996, representing 166 million acres, into doubt. That mistake replaces a stable, science-based, community-driven system with needless chaos and uncertainty. It was lazy and irresponsible and is harmful to all land users," said Jocelyn Torres, chief conservation officer at the Conservation Lands Foundation. Along with the at least 5,033 existing leases, the legal uncertainty extends to future leasing. According to the letter, 69.8% of all BLM lands available for oil and gas leasing are managed under RMPs finalized after 1996 that were never submitted to Congress. BLM is currently evaluating 850 parcels totaling 787,927 acres across 14 upcoming lease sales on lands that may lack a valid RMP. This legal chaos affects far more than oil and gas. Land management plans for national forests, national parks, and national wildlife refuges finalized since 1996 may also be invalid, potentially calling into question grazing permits, timber sales, recreation authorizations, and wildfire management projects across hundreds of millions of acres nationwide. "Congress was warned repeatedly that weaponizing the CRA against land management plans would create exactly this kind of chaos. They charged ahead anyway, putting short-term political gain ahead of stable land management. Now they've jeopardized the very oil and gas development they claimed to be protecting. Congress must immediately fix the mess it made." said Alison Flint, senior legal director for The Wilderness Society . “Let’s be crystal clear: The Congressional Review Act is bad public policy. And it’s absolutely terrible public policy when used to overturn comprehensive public land planning decisions that radically reduces predictability for all public land users — in particular, as we have highlighted to the Bureau of Land Management, the oil and gas industry itself,” said Melissa Hornbein, senior attorney at the Western Environmental Law Center. “Congress lit the fuse on a legal time bomb that now calls into question the validity of thousands of oil and gas leases covering millions of acres as well as grazing permits and numerous other authorizations. But equally concerning, use of the CRA unravels decades of community-led land-use planning and throws into disarray the legal foundation for how our public lands are managed,” said Laird Lucas, executive director at Advocates for the West. “Congress’s use of the CRA to disapprove several Bureau of Land Management land use plans that were put in place following years of stakeholder and Tribal Nation input has sown confusion throughout the American West. This is not what Congress intended when it passed the CRA,” said Steve Bloch, legal director for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. “As one of the principal architects of this newest line of attack on public lands, Sen. Daines opened Pandora’s Box. Using the Congressional Review Act to wipe out years of local work on Resource Management Plans is unprecedented, and it puts rural economies at risk, including the oil and gas industry. Inserting Congress into these processes threatens to unravel the foundations of public resource management and dismantle the systems that communities, businesses, and Montanans rely on. Congress is heading down a reckless path, yet another example of the pattern of attacks we’re seeing out of Washington D.C. on one of the most foundational aspects of Montana’s way of life: our public lands and resources,” said Aubrey Bertram, Staff Attorney & Federal Policy Director at Wild Montana.
Washington, D.C. — The U.S. House last night used the Congressional Review Act to consider and pass three resolutions undermining public lands protections in three areas in Alaska and Wyoming. The three resolutions are: S.J. Res. 80 – disapproving of the ‘‘National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska Integrated Activity Plan Record of Decision’’. H.J. Res. 130 – disapproving of the ‘‘Buffalo Field Office Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan Amendment’’. H.J. Res. 131 – disapproving of the ‘‘Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program Record of Decision’’. Below is a statement from Jocelyn Torres, Chief Conservation Officer of the Conservation Lands Foundation, which represents a national network of community advocates who are solely focused on the public lands overseen by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), including the National Conservation Lands: “Today’s action by the U.S. House is part of a series of coordinated attempts to roll back common sense management of public lands. It’s simple - America’s public lands should be managed for the public good. These resolutions undermine the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s authority to manage public lands for the benefit of all Americans, not just those who seek to buy up and close public lands to public access and benefit. “It is clear from the recent actions of this Congress to remove protections from key areas across the West that supporters of these actions are opponents of public lands. By removing the BLM’s authority to manage lands, these resolutions ensure that privatizing or industrializing them are the only viable remaining options. It’s a classic example of trying to solve a problem that was self-inflicted for the express purpose of achieving an outcome that benefits you. “We remain opposed to these one-sided, destructive attempts to roll back the clock on public lands protection and we’ll continue to work with members of the Friends Grassroots Network to oppose these obvious attempts to use public resources for private gain. We’ll continue to remind members of Congress that the overwhelming majority of Americans support responsible, effective, balanced management of the public lands.” ###
Rule repeal leaves irreplaceable wildlife habitat vulnerable to unchecked oil drilling, despite 300,000+ public comments in support of conservation
Oil Ties and Land-Sale Stance of Nominee for the Country’s Largest Public Lands Manager Threatens Local Communities and Agency’s 'Multiple-Use' Mandate
Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Senate voted today to approve a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to dismantle the Bureau of Land Management’s Integrated Activity Plan that protects 13.3 million acres of irreplaceable public lands and waters in the Western Arctic (called the National Petroleum Reserve Alaska (NPRA). This legally-questionable use of the CRA will erase years of public engagement and scientific collaboration, overturning balanced management that supports Indigenous communities, wildlife, and the global climate. Once the U.S. House of Representatives passes it and the president signs it, as is expected, vast swaths of the Reserve will be open to expanded industrial oil and gas development, an action that directly undermines commitments to Tribal sovereignty, biodiversity, and climate resilience in one of the fastest-warming regions on Earth. Below is a statement from Jocelyn Torres, Chief Conservation Officer for the Conservation Lands Foundation: “Using the Congressional Review Act to undo protections in the Western Arctic is reckless and a deliberate attack on the Alaska Native communities that have cared for these lands for generations and were involved in establishing the framework that protects these lands. The Integrated Activity Plan represents years of collaboration between Tribes, local communities, scientists, and the American public to ensure the survival of vital and sensitive landscapes including Teshekpuk Lake and the Utukok Uplands. “Repealing this plan will further expose the region’s wildlife and people to devastating and irrevocable industrial impacts, all to serve short-term fossil fuel interests in a place already warming at four times the global average. It will also continue a dangerous new precedent that began earlier this month empowering Congress through the CRA to wreak havoc on how the public’s lands are managed across the country, jeopardizing the stability and predictability that communities and industries alike depend on. “The American people have made their priorities clear: they want clean air, safe water, and healthy public lands that future generations can enjoy. We will continue to stand with local communities and fight these extreme measures that decimate the natural environment that the people and wildlife of the Western Arctic depend on.” Background The National Petroleum Reserve Alaska (NPRA) is the largest unit of public land in the United States, encompassing nearly 23 million acres of critical habitat for caribou, polar bears, muskox, migratory birds, and fish. More than 40 Indigenous communities depend on the Reserve for subsistence and cultural practices that have persisted for millennia. In 2024, following extensive consultation with Alaska Native Tribes and corporations, the Biden administration finalized a rule restoring and strengthening protections for 13.3 million acres of Special Areas within the Reserve—Teshekpuk Lake, Utukok Uplands, Colville River, Kasegaluk Lagoon, and Peard Bay. This plan balanced subsistence needs with responsible land management and was widely supported by the public, with more than 250,000 comments favoring conservation. ###
Public Land Protection IS Climate Action! The Conservation Lands Foundation partnered with Patagonia during NYC Climate Week 2025 for a powerful in-person conversation about the vital connection between public land conservation and climate resilience. We brought together leaders from the front lines of public land protection campaigns across the West to share their experiences, insights, and practical ideas for how each of us can play a role in protecting the nature and wild places that sustain us all. Our Panel Featured: Chris Hill , CEO, Conservation Lands Foundation (moderator) U.S. Representative Melanie Stansbury (D-New Mexico) Carleton Bowekaty , Zuni Tribe, Policy Director of Bears Ears Partnership Caroline Gleich , professional athlete & climate activist Ryan Callaghan , VP of Conservation at MeatEater and North American Board Chair of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers Watch the Full Conversation From Indigenous-led conservation to the intersection of outdoor recreation and stewardship, this discussion explores why protecting public lands is one of our most powerful tools in the fight against climate change. Watch the full panel below:
Washington, D.C. — In an unprecedented and alarming move for the country’s public lands, the U.S. Senate voted over the past two days to pass three Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolutions that overturn finalized, science-based Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land use plans that were developed over years of public engagement and stakeholder input. These plans—crafted with the involvement of local communities, Tribes, landowners, and land management professionals—were designed to ensure responsible, balanced use of public lands. This marks the first time the Congressional Review Act has been used to nullify land management plans, setting a dangerous precedent that threatens to destabilize how millions of acres of public lands are governed across the West. Specifically, the Senate passed resolutions of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act (or CRA) to strike down Resource Management Plans covering Central Yukon (AK) , Miles City (MT) , and North Dakota. All three passed in the House of Representatives in September. Below is a statement from David Feinman, Vice President of Government Affairs at the Conservation Lands Foundation, which represents a national network of community advocates who are solely focused on the public lands overseen by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), including the National Conservation Lands: “This move is legally dubious and deeply irresponsible. Land use plans have never been considered ‘rules’ under the Congressional Review Act. To suddenly apply the CRA here—after these plans were developed through extensive public engagement—is a slap in the face to every community member, Tribal government, industry expert, and stakeholder who participated in good faith. “Let’s be clear: these plans weren’t drafted in a back room—they were shaped over years of broad stakeholder collaboration, public comment, and scientific review, and they balance many uses on the land. Overturning them by congressional decree thousands of miles from these landscapes not only disregards the substance of those plans, it also throws the entire land management system into chaos. Virtually every single BLM land use plan is now potentially at risk—and with them, every use authorized by those plans, from grazing and energy development to mining, outdoor recreation, and wildlife conservation. “This action doesn’t just hurt conservation—it hurts local economies and the ability of land users and communities across the West to know how public lands are being managed acre by acre. Everyone who cares about public land access, stewardship, and the multiple uses they provide the American people should be outraged by what’s happening here.” ###
While National Conservation Lands are generally protected from oil and gas development, adjacent leasing and drilling can undermine their ecological integrity and conservation values. Oil and gas planning and leasing remains a critical area of engagement to safeguard vulnerable BLM lands—including Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACECs) and lands with wilderness characteristics—that may be eligible for future conservation designations. This training will provide an overview of how the Bureau of Land Management’s oil and gas program works—from long-range planning in Resource Management Plans (RMPs) to individual lease sales—and how the Friends Grassroots Network can effectively engage at every stage. Participants will learn how oil and gas development decisions are made on public lands, including how areas are designated for leasing, how lease sales are conducted, and where public input fits into the process. The attached resources will also cover threats to public lands and conservation goals posed by recent policy shifts, administrative rollbacks, or expanded leasing efforts. Explore: How the oil and gas program is structured and how decisions move from RMPs to lease sales. Where and when grassroots advocates can intervene effectively. Strategies for submitting public comments, organizing community pressure, and using local media and storytelling to elevate. About our presenters: Nashoba Consulting was formed by Nada Wolff Culver, former Principal Deputy Director for the BLM, and Natalie Landreth, former Deputy Solicitor for Lands for the Department of the Interior, to connect Tribes and the public with their public lands - and each other - drawing from their extensive experience working with advocates and the federal government on public lands and Tribal policy issues. 📚 Resources From The Webinar: CLF Workshop - Oil and Gas 101 DOI New NEPA Regs - Guidance - Advocating for Public Lands Current DOI Authority Governing Lease Sales BLM Planning Process Flowchart Leasing Flowchart 2025
Urge Congress to oppose H.R. 521 and S. 220 the Senate companion to eliminate the Antiquities Act and strip Presidents of their authority to designate monuments that protect ou r natural resources and cultural heritage.
Led by Conservation Lands Foundation, in partnership with the Bureau of Land Management and an array of local and other groups, “Respect. Connect. Protect.” is a campaign to su pport enthusiastic, respectful and safe visits on National Conservation Lands.
