Today, county commissioners, mayors, and council members, along with The Mountain Pact, an organization that works with local elected officials across the West, responded in support of an announcement from the Department of Interior of a final “Public Lands Rule.”

According to the agency, this is an “update to its regulations that will guide balanced management of America's public lands now and for the future.”

The Public Lands Rule will help safeguard the health of our public lands for current and future generations by ensuring that we:

• protect clean water and wildlife habitat,
• restore lands and waters that need it and
• make informed decisions based on science, data, and Indigenous knowledge.

The rule recognizes conservation as an essential component of public lands management, on equal footing with other multiple uses of these lands.

“The climate crisis continues to have a severe and ongoing impact on Western communities. The Bureau of Land Management is the largest land manager in the nation, and its final Public Lands Rules will play a leading role in protecting our public lands for the future and mitigating the impacts of climate change,” said City of Santa Fe Mayor Alan Webber.