House Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman called on the Bureau of Land Management to cease ongoing efforts to implement its contested public lands rule.
The Arkansas Republican also vowed Tuesday to use his committee “to fight the BLM’s so-called ‘Conservation and Landscape Health’ rule and its implementation.”
Westerman’s statement is in response to BLM on Thursday outlining “next steps” to staffers and the public on the sweeping rule, which seeks to elevate conservation as a formal use of bureau lands alongside livestock grazing, mining, recreation and energy development.
BLM also announced on Thursday that it would form an advisory panel to help guide the bureau as it works to implement the rule, which includes a suite of conservation policy tools BLM offices are directed to employ to protect natural spaces and restore lands in the face of a warming climate.
