Trump administration changed land conservation rules, now drilling and mining activities will increase on public lands

New Delhi: In America, the Donald Trump administration has decided to abolish a major environmental rule related to public lands. Through this move, the government wants to promote drilling, mining, logging and grazing activities on taxpayer-owned lands while relaxing restrictions on industries.

The Home Department on Tuesday announced the repeal of the rule, which was implemented in 2024 during the tenure of former President Joe Biden. The objective of this rule was to give equal importance to conservation as development activities and under this, a provision was made to lease public land also for restoration works.

What was the rule of Biden administration?

The purpose of this rule, implemented during the Biden administration, was to reorganize the Land Management Bureau of the Home Department. This bureau oversees about 10 percent of America’s land.

Under the rule, public properties could be leased for restoration and conservation work in the same way as oil companies lease land for drilling. Supporters said that due to this, environmental protection had received proper priority after a long time.

‘Access to millions of acres of land could have been affected’

US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum opposed this rule, saying that it could affect access to hundreds of thousands of acres of land.

He said the rule would have disrupted energy and timber production, while also hurting cattle farmers who graze their animals on public lands.

Industry groups and Republican leaders had protested

Industry groups and Republican leaders in Congress consistently opposed this rule. His argument was that this change made by the Biden administration was against the land of the Home Department. "multi use"It is against the principle of.

According to opponents, federal lands "disuse"That is, giving more priority to restoration leases could have affected development activities.

Trump administration’s focus on fossil fuel production

Since President Trump took office, the administration has taken several steps to increase fossil fuel production from taxpayer-owned public lands.

Most of the federal government’s land is located in western states such as Alaska, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. The Trump administration is emphasizing on promoting drilling and mining activities in these areas.

Along with this, the Republican administration has also tried to sideline some renewable energy projects. The administration claims that these projects were improperly subsidized during the Biden government.

Notification will be published in the Federal Register

The announcement of the official repeal of this rule was to be published in the Federal Register on Tuesday. However, documents related to this have already been released.

In recent months, Republican leaders in Congress have also canceled several land management plans implemented in the final days of the Biden administration. Under these plans, restrictions were imposed on development activities in large parts of Alaska, Montana and North Dakota.