The State of Our Public Lands is Threatened
Conservation Lands Foundation Urges Attention on the Multiple Efforts Underway to Undermine Public Lands Management, Protection, and Preservation
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Tonight’s State of the Union speech will focus attention on the President’s priorities and the actions he is taking to advance his agenda. Regardless of whether or not public lands are included in tonight’s State of the Union, their status is in jeopardy thanks to administrative and congressional actions.
Conservation Lands Foundation CEO Chris Hill shared the following statement in advance of tonight’s address. The Conservation Lands Foundation represents a bipartisan national network of community advocates who are solely focused on the public lands overseen by the Bureau of Land Management including National Conservation Lands.
“America’s public lands generate millions of dollars in recreation, stewardship, and local economic revenue as well as provide recreation and environmental benefits to millions of Americans in communities across the country. The hundreds of millions of acres that are managed by the U.S. government for the American people are jewels worthy of the highest level of protection. Alarmingly, this administration sees only the short-term extractive value of these precious and sacred landscapes and is focused only on making it easier for a few well-connected donors to buy and sell these resources for their own gain.
“From deprioritizing conservation as a valid use for public lands, to opening up vast tracts of Alaskan land for oil and gas drilling, to approving highways through protected conservation areas, and installing anti-public lands ideologues to manage our public lands system, this administration is willfully ignoring the vast majority of the American people who want more of their public lands and water sources protected.
“The American public overwhelmingly opposes efforts to sell off public lands or reduce protections. According to the 2026 Conservation in the West poll, 84% of Western voters say that the ‘rollback of laws that protect our land, water, and wildlife is a serious problem,’ a sharp increase from prior years.
“Selling off the country’s remaining public lands is both wildly unpopular and unnecessary as many oil and gas companies aren’t using all of the existing drilling and exploration leases they already have. The idea that we need to open up even more public lands for these extractive ideas is both wrong and wasteful.
“No matter what the President says in his speech tonight, the State of our Union can never be strong when our public lands protections are weak. It’s time for this administration and Congress to respond to the will of the people in communities across this nation by protecting and preserving our public lands for this and future generations.”
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