FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE JANUARY 6, 2025 Contact: Kris Deutschman, kris@ conservationlands.org Washington, DC - The bipartisan Fiscal Year 2026 Interior appropriations bill Congress will be considering in the coming days rejects the steep cuts the White House requested for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and management of National Conservation Lands, which include nearly 40 million acres of the country’s iconic national monuments, wild and scenic rivers, and other special public lands. The bill provides marginal reductions in funding for the BLM Lands and Resources account, while ensuring funding for the National Conservation Lands system is maintained at $59.135 million, equal to what was enacted in Fiscal Year 2025. Below is a statement from David Feinman, Vice President of Government Affairs 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 including National Conservation Lands. "The Conservation Lands Foundation applauds Congress for delivering clear bipartisan, bicameral support for National Conservation Lands and rejecting the White House's proposed 75% cut to the management of these critical public lands. While the current funding is not enough to make up for decades of underinvestment, maintaining the current funding level for the National Conservation Lands system helps the BLM protect these iconic and irreplaceable natural landscapes and the public’s access to them. “We also applaud the inclusion of language in the bill that requires the BLM maintain staffing levels necessary to fulfill its multiple-use mission, including protecting natural and cultural resources, maintaining safe and appropriate access and recreation, conducting Tribal consultation, and managing the National Conservation Lands. “The truth is, BLM and the National Conservation Lands system have been chronically underfunded by Congress and understaffed for decades, and we remain concerned about the historical underinvestment to the nation’s largest public land manager and the conservation lands it stewards. “The agency needs meaningful funding increases to address decades of deferred maintenance, visitor services and resource protection, as well as to properly staff the agency to do this work. Nevertheless, we urge swift passage of the FY26 Interior funding bill, which at minimum provides stability for the agency to fulfill its mission.” ###
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Shevawn Bell, shevawn (at) conservationlands.org Washington, DC – The Fiscal Year 2026 Interior appropriations bill introduced in the U.S. House today betrays America’s commitment to public lands and waters by slashing budgets for public land management agencies and blocking the implementation of land management plans shaped by the public. Below is a statement from David Feinman, Vice President of Government Affairs of the Conservation Lands Foundation, on the introduction of this funding package. CLF represents a national network of community advocates who are solely focused on the public lands overseen by the Bureau of Land Management including National Conservation Lands and similar protected public lands in the Western Arctic. “This proposed Interior appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2026 introduced in the House betrays this country’s decades-long commitment to managing public lands for the use and enjoyment of all Americans. “The House Interior spending bill proposes significant cuts to the Department of the Interior ($61 million below the Fiscal Year 2025 enacted level) and Bureau of Land Management ($110.4 million below the FY2025 enacted level) as well as draconian policy riders that block implementation of critical land management plans that ensure public lands are managed responsibly for all who use them. “These decisions by the House have real world impacts, including risks to public safety, the erosion of visitor services and irreparable harm to cultural and ecological resources on public lands. A well-funded Bureau of Land Management is essential to preserving access, supporting rural economies and ensuring safe and sustainable recreation. “Public lands stewarded by the BLM are growing rapidly in popularity and visitorship, yet Congressional funding for the agency to manage and protect these lands has not kept pace. Adequately funding the BLM is one of the most efficient and effective ways we can prevent wildfires, ensure public access to outdoor recreation and preserve the ecological and cultural values of National Conservation Lands. “The package also prevents the implementation of widely-popular policies like the Public Lands Rule and land management plans shaped by and for the public like the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Resource Management Plan. “This year, we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the National Conservation Lands. On behalf of the millions of Americans across the country who value public lands and waters, we call on Congress to develop and pass a funding bill that invests in America’s public lands, the civil servants who steward them and the processes that ensure their proper management is an essential national priority.”
Washington, DC – The Conservation Lands Foundation today condemned the White House Office of Management and Budget’s FY26 budget proposal for the Bureau of Land Management, which delivers devastating cuts that would cripple the agency's ability to steward America's public lands and fulfill its legal mandates. Below is a statement from Chris Hill, CEO of Conservation Lands Foundation: “The White House’s FY26 Bureau of Land Management budget blueprint is the latest assault in this administration's relentless campaign to dismantle public lands and gut the agencies that protect them. By cutting the Lands and Resources account by more than $460 million and slashing the National Monuments and National Conservation Areas account by 72.%, the administration is making it clear that it does not value these irreplaceable public lands and waters, the communities and rural economies that depend on them, the wildlife that calls them home, or their essential role in our climate future. Instead, the White House would rather gut vital programs like the National Conservation Lands to fund tax breaks for billionaires. “The Bureau of Land Management oversees more public land than any other federal agency—245 million acres across the American West—yet has been chronically underfunded and understaffed by Congress for decades. A well-funded BLM is essential to preserving outdoor recreation and public access, supporting rural economies, and safeguarding local watersheds and wildlife, but has been historically underfunded and understaffed. “Now the White House is slashing the National Conservation Lands system to just $15 million - $16.3 million less than the lowest amount Congress has provided in the program's history ($31.301 in FY2010). Since then, the National Conservation Lands system has grown by more than 12 million acres through acts of Congress and Antiquities Act proclamations by presidents of both parties. These staggering budget cuts mean closed trails and visitor centers, damaged wildlife habitats, and forsaken conservation commitments that span generations of bipartisan leadership. “This budget blueprint follows Interior Secretary Doug Burgum's testimony last month before the House and Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittees, which revealed an administration more interested in extracting short-term profits than protecting our lands, water, wildlife and the public’s access to the outdoors. Despite carefully crafted rhetoric about 'responsible resource management,' the Secretary’s actions tell a different story: this administration prioritizes corporate interests ahead of the American people and future generations. “While we recognize the need to balance the use of public lands with responsible energy development and production of domestic critical minerals, we believe in the longstanding, bipartisan tradition that all activities on public lands must respect outdoor recreation access, environmental laws, the rights and traditions of Indigenous people, and the long-term preservation of the land and essential wildlife habitats that are part of the natural and national legacy that belongs to all of us. “We’re encouraged that lawmakers from both parties support keeping America’s public lands in public hands and we commend Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-New Mexico), Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon), and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Washington) for their statements opposing public land sell-offs in the recent budget hearings. Since the White House refuses to provide the BLM with the resources necessary for the agency to fulfill its responsibilities under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, Congress must take the lead where the administration has fallen short. “We’re grateful to America’s public lands champions in Congress, including Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nevada) and Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nevada), who led letters in the Senate and House of Representatives , respectively, and their 33 colleagues who signed their letters urging appropriators to reject the White House budget request and provide robust funding for the BLM and National Conservation Lands in FY2026. “We call on Congress to reject the administration’s proposal that shortchanges effective stewardship of America’s public lands. Congress must also scrutinize this administration's continued wasteful spending on legally questionable efforts to weaken national monument protections. We will hold Secretary Burgum to his commitment—made to Senator Heinrich—that no monument boundaries will be altered without meaningful local consultation. “America's public lands belong to all of us. Full Stop. Congress has the opportunity—and the responsibility —to ensure these treasures remain protected for current and future generations.” ###
