PUBLIC LANDS RULE


The Public Lands Rule improves the management of our public lands, empowering the Bureau of Land Management to focus management on the needs of the lands where they work. Rescinding the Public Lands Rule will rip authority from local land managers to place it in the hands of D.C. bureaucrats whose main goal is to sell our public lands to the highest bidder. All this in opposition to the overwhelming support for our public lands and their protection.


-Sandra Schubert, Tuleyome Executive Director



The Public Lands Rule protects our treasured, multi-use landscapes so they'll be there tomorrow, recognizing conservation as a type of land use. Backed by decades of science and experience, the rule gives land managers tools to maintain our public lands, ensure access, and protect our resources while supporting the diverse ways that communities depend on public lands.

What's Happening:


The current administration is directing the elimination of the  public lands rule. This elimination will come with several possible consequences:



  • Local control lost: authority will be taken from local land managers and given to federal officials
  • Value short-term profit over long-term sustainability: encourages extraction and land sales instead of conservation
  • Rural communities harmed: land degradation hurts farmers and small towns
  • Environmental damage: overused lands, degraded grasslands, and contaminated watersheds take decades to recover

American people want and support the Public Lands Rule. The Rule has overwhelming support. When given the chance to comment on the Public Lands Rule, more than 150,000 Americans did – 92% in support. When ranchers, recreationists, and resource companies all depend on the same lands, we recognize that we must use them responsibly to ensure they stay productive for everyone.

In the West, Bureau of Land Management lands aren’t just scenery—they’re economic engines. Outdoor recreation alone on BLM lands supports 26,500 jobs and over $1 billion in wages, according to a 2023 Pew study. Overall, BLM-managed lands contribute more than $11 billion annually to the U.S. economy—most of that impact concentrated in Western states.


Repealing the Public Lands Rule would shift priorities away from long-term stewardship and recreation, toward short-term industrial extraction—damaging the very ecosystems and landscapes that attract people and investment to the West.


The choice is clear: Protect our public lands for current and future generations, or consume everything now and leave nothing behind. Without the Public Lands Rule, our cherished landscapes lose protection and one of our greatest treasures, our public lands, is at risk.

TAKE ACTION NOW

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Comment Period is Closed

The comment period ends at 8:59 PM Pacific Time! Submit your comments supporting the Public Lands Rule immediately.


Sign on to Tuleyome's letter below or draft your personalized comments and submit to Secretary Rollins on the Federal Register.


For more information on how to participate in the public comment process, contact Tuleyome Policy Director Bryan Pride.

Sample Letter

I’m writing to urge you to keep the Public Lands Rule in place. This rule is a vital step forward in how our public lands are managed—ensuring that conservation, recreation, cultural resources and watershed health are considered alongside other uses like energy development and grazing.


The Public Lands Rule gives the BLM essential tools to restore degraded landscapes, protect wildlife habitat, safeguard migration corridors, and respond to the growing threats of drought, wildfire, and climate change. It reflects a balanced, science-based approach to land management that is long overdue.


I support the Public Lands Rule because it recognizes that our public lands should be managed for more than just immediate extractive value. They provide long-term support to local economies, preserve cultural and natural heritage, and offer recreational and spiritual opportunities to millions of Americans.


The rule also responds to what people across the country—including Tribal governments, rural communities, and public land users—have consistently asked for: smarter, more transparent, and more balanced decision-making. It received overwhelming public support during its development, and rescinding it now would ignore the will of the people and undermine years of public engagement.


America’s public lands are national treasures, and their stewardship requires a thoughtful, forward-looking approach. Please uphold the Public Lands Rule and ensure that our lands remain healthy, resilient, and accessible for generations to come.

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RECENT NEWS

Policy Corner: Protect our Wildest Areas

August 7, 2026
Our wildest areas are under threat. In June, the Administration moved to weaken protections for our wildest public lands - those designated as wilderness, Wilderness Study Areas, Lands with Wilderness Characteristics, and recommended Wilderness. What do these areas represent? Millions of acres of untrammeled backcountry. The Department of the Interior, US Forest Service and National Park Service initiated the first step in unraveling these protections. They’ve called for a “review” of eight policies, opening the door to weaken protections and paving the way for short-term extractive industries, commercial development, and resource fragmentation at the expense of long-term conservation management of some of our wildest remaining public lands. Nearly 200 million acres of wildlands across the west could be impacted by this review, including approximately 120 million acres of Wilderness Study Areas and wilderness quality lands, and 75 million acres of designated wilderness areas. This includes the nearly 94,000 acres in Cache Creek, Cedar Roughs and Snow Mountain Wilderness areas in Berryessa Snow Mountain Nation Monument right here in our own region. These policies guide how federal agencies identify, manage, and steward designated Wilderness Areas, Wilderness Study Areas, and lands with wilderness characteristics. Together, they influence the management of millions of acres of federal public lands and translate statutory requirements into day-to-day management decisions. Continuing to protect wilderness qualities is consistent with protecting recreation. In many cases, wilderness-quality land provides the best opportunities for backcountry recreation; a CA outdoor industry responsible for 545,448 direct jobs valued at $38.1 billion. The total value-added worth of CA outdoor recreation is $81.5 billion, 2.2% of our gross domestic product. The Department of the Interior’s actions present a false choice between stewarding wilderness lands and providing opportunities for recreation. Let’s tell the Administration that we oppose these rollbacks and are committed to protecting our wild places. Sign on to the Wi lderness Review- National Sign-on Letter opposing five different actions across the three agencies by August 12th. Together, we can show this administration that we care about protecting these special places today and into the future. Sandra Schubert Executive Director

Donor Spotlight - Sarah Davis

August 7, 2026
I first heard about Tuleyome when I retired early from UC Davis eight years ago. I was looking for local organizations for volunteer opportunities. I discovered Tuleyome and got connected with Bill Grabert and Nate Lillge. I helped them lead hikes and school programs, then took the CA Naturalist course through Tuleyome. My capstone project was to lead a backpacking trip into the Cache Creek wilderness, which I did just as COVID was descending on us. I was, and still am, impressed at how such a small local non-profit has both ensured preservation of important wild areas and invested heavily in outreach to local schools. Working with kids from Lake County in the Redbud area was eye-opening and extremely gratifying. Some of them had literally never been on a hike in spite of growing up so close to all that spectacular wild land! I donate to Tuleyome to help them keep up the great work!!! I’ve spent countless days hiking in and enjoying the Cache Creek area; what a gem of a local resource! And, only last spring was I able to get up to Snow Mountain…so glad it’s preserved and accessible for camping and hiking. Wow! A wilderness area near my home - that’s amazing. I’m incredibly grateful for Tuleyome’s hard work that resulted in preservation of these important wild places, and I look forward to seeing what’s next.

Monumental Questions - What Makes California Newts Special?

By Kristie Ehrhardt • August 7, 2026
Driving around the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument one rainy day revealed a network of dirt roads that were slick as snnn… well, you probably know. The wet weather made driving less than optimal for the Subaru we were in but for our amphibian friends, the low-riding California newt, the warm, misty conditions were sublime. California Newts ( Taricha torosa ) are endemic to California, which means that they are extra special because they are only found here. They occur below 6,000 feet along the Coast Ranges from Mendocino County south to San Diego County. They are also found in the foothills and western slopes of the Sierra Nevada in the San Joaquin Valley with a few isolated populations in southern San Diego County. They utilize both wetland habitat including natural and artificial pools and ponds, reservoirs, creeks and streams for breeding during winter and spring, and upland areas such as chaparral and woodland habitats where they spend summer and fall. California Newts have stubby little toes attached to short, stocky legs. Adults range from about two and three quarters inches to about three and a half inches long, not including the tail. Their bellies and undersides of their neck and chin are bright golden yellow to orange with a reddish-brown to slate gray back. California Newts reproduce from late fall to early summer depending on rainfall amounts and habitat conditions. Adults migrate from their upland refugia to their preferred wetland to breed. Eggs are attached to submerged vegetation or under rocks and females can lay up to six masses of nearly 50 eggs a day. The eggs hatch in two to six weeks depending on water conditions and temperature. Larvae are aquatic and have gills and fins. After several months the larvae begin to exit the pond and set about metamorphosing into adults and do not return to the pond again until they are ready to breed. Larvae eat small aquatic invertebrates and organic matter; adults eat insects, slugs, snails and worms as well as other amphibian eggs and larvae. Adult California Newts are highly toxic. Like other members of the genus Taricha , adults have glands on their skin that secrete the potent neurotoxin tetrodotoxin - the same toxin that is found in harlequin frogs and pufferfish. Side note, this makes them poisonous rather than venomous (like rattlesnakes). Tetrodotoxin is hundreds of times more toxic than cyanide and potent enough to kill most vertebrates. The toxin affects sodium channels and makes it so neurons are unable to fire which results in lethal muscle paralysis. One of the only predators of adult California Newts are garter snakes. Garter snakes are one of the very few organisms that have evolved to develop a resistance to the tetrodotoxin produced by the newts. Garter snakes can ingest the toxic newts with limited effects which has created an evolutionary arms race (coevolution). As the garter snakes develop stronger immunity to the toxins only the most poisonous news survive which in turn results in future generations of news with even stronger toxins. This leads to a population of garter snakes that have developed a resistance to the stronger toxin levels and and on it goes. Loads of them were bumbling along the edges of the wet dirt road that rainy day. We made several stops to relocate those that were attempting to cross but seemed to stall out in the middle, always placing them facing the direction they were aimed. I don’t know if they were heading out to their natal ponds to mingle and breed, or on their way back to nap in their upland refugia but they were definitely enjoying the day. The California Newt is currently a California Species of Special Concern due to habitat loss and invasive non-native species introduction which makes seeing so many of these little stumpy legged tetrapods enjoying the Monument even even more groovy!