DENVER—In the final hours of the Trump administration’s public comment period, a new analysis by the Center for Western Priorities finds 98 percent of comments oppose the administration’s plan to rescind the Bureau of Land Management’s Conservation and Landscape Health Rule, more commonly known as the Public Lands Rule. Finalized in 2024, the rule put conservation, ecosystem restoration, and public access on equal footing with extractive uses like mining, drilling, and grazing, following through on the principle of “multiple use” as intended by the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976.
CWP’s analysis found that 97.9 percent of public comments opposed rescinding the Public Lands Rule. 1.7 percent percent of comments supported rescinding the rule, while the remainder did not express a clear position or requested an extension of the comment period due to the government shutdown. The analysis has a margin of error of ±1.3%.
During the initial public comment period for the proposed rule in 2023, CWP found that 92 percent of comments supported the rule.
The Center for Western Priorities released the following statement from Deputy Director Aaron Weiss:
“Westerners have once again spoken with one voice in support of our public lands. Conservation is a core use of our public lands, and everyone who lives, works, and recreates on and near public lands knows it. This analysis shows that support for conservation on public lands has only grown over the last two years, and Westerners recognize that the Public Lands Rule is necessary to bring balance to land management decisions.
“Interior Secretary Burgum and President Trump should reverse course now and leave the Public Lands Rule in place. The rule was developed thoughtfully, with ample public input, and implements the intention that Congress expressed in FLPMA fifty years ago. The Public Lands Rule is legal, enjoys immense public support, and will help ensure public lands remain healthy and productive well into the future.”
Methodology:
The Center for Western Priorities downloaded all 43,746 public comments posted to regulations.gov as of 8:00 am MT on Monday, November 10th, 2025. The comment period closes at 11:59 pm ET, November 10th.
Using a combination of manual and keyword analysis, a statistically random sample of 5,000 of those comments were categorized as “supportive,” “opposed,” or “neutral” to the proposed rescission of the Public Lands Rule. The sample has a margin of error of ±1.3 percent. The full data set and toolchain are available for download.
The most recent comment posted as of this analysis had a time stamp of November 6th, 2025, suggesting that several thousand late public comments had not yet been posted online. This analysis will be updated if a significant number of additional comments are later made available.
Learn more:
- More than 180 Western Leaders Urge Trump Administration to Abandon Push to Gut BLM Public Lands Rule – Mountain Pact
- Rhetoric vs. reality: House hearing on the Bureau of Land Management’s proposed Public Lands Rule – Westwise
- Analysis: Public comments overwhelmingly support BLM Public Lands Rule – CWP
Featured image: King Range National Conservation Area by Bob Wick. Photo by BLM California.