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.

Contact Us

RECENT NEWS

Beavers, otters, and more – new Conaway Ranch game camera footage!

By Geoff Benn • June 4, 2026
A beaver at Conaway Ranch We’ve got new footage from our game cameras at Conaway Ranch! This camera site was chosen by 4 th graders from Dingle Elementary during a recent field trip to Conaway. The camera is near the otter slide we’ve previously filmed, but is a few feet away from the entrance to the slide, allowing us to film the animals as they approach. We saw beaver, otter, a fox, a raccoon, and more! Click here to watch the video . Tuleyome works with Conaway Preservation Group to offer educational programs at Conaway Ranch, including programs for K-12 groups and the general public. If you have any questions about the game camera footage or our programs at Conaway, please reach out to Education Associate Geoff Benn at gbenn@tuleyome.org.

Policy Corner: It’s Time to Fight for Our Public Lands

June 4, 2026
The current administration has released its proposed budget for the 2027 fiscal year. It proposes drastic cuts to our public land management agencies. The proposed budget would significantly reduce funding for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), including a 34% cut to its total budget, a 27% staff cut, a 76% cut to the National Conservation Lands, which encompass 38 million acres of protected public lands, a 61% cut to recreation management (including campsites and trails), and total elimination of funding for cultural resources and wilderness management. It also would shift priorities towards extractive uses of public lands instead of conservation and clean energy. The administration’s budget would also drastically cut funding to the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), eliminate several offices, state and federal research stations (six in California) and transfer all fire fighting to BLM. Notably, in the face of all these cuts, the budget would increase funding for extractive industries; funding for timber sales would increase 450%. The reductions and policy changes would impair these agencies’ abilities to protect public lands, cultural resources, fresh water sources, and wildlife, while also impairing access to them and recreation on them. The President’s budget is now in Congress, where committees in both the Senate and the House of Representatives are amending and voting on the bills in preparation for full House and Senate votes. Now is the time to take action for our public lands and the environment by urging Congress to reject the proposed budget and maintain funding for BLM, USFS, and programs that protect and steward our public lands. Let your representatives know that you oppose the cuts to BLM and USFS and the rollbacks to our public land protections. And let them know why these special places are important to them. You can voice your opinions to Congress in multiple ways. You can: Call their offices Send a letter to Congress - we’ve pulled together a template for you to use, but don’t forget to let them know why public lands are important to you – download sample letter here Contact them on social media Meet with a representative in their District offices. Don’t know how to reach them, go to Congress.gov and find their phone numbers, addresses, district offices, websites and so much more if you’re interested. Now is the time to speak up for our public lands! Mary Lamborn (Communications Intern) and Sandra Schubert (Executive Director)

Monumental Questions - Another Monumental Vegetable?

By Kristie Ehrhardt • June 4, 2026
You betcha! Wild carrot, also known as Queen Anne’s Lace, is a common sight within the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument region. With its straight and sturdy stalk, bright green, frilly leaves and white, flat-topped flower clusters, it is identifiable even from the limited viewing scope of a traveling car. Queen Anne’s Lace ( Daucus carota ) belongs to the Apiaceae (carrot) family. All members of this family display flower clusters arranged in an upside-down umbrella shape called an umbel. It is native to Europe and is the plant that tasty cultivated carrots originated from. It was brought to North America for its medicinal purposes and has since naturalized across the continent in disturbed and natural areas in mountains, valleys and coastal areas. It can be so prolific that it outcompetes native plants and can also be mildly toxic to livestock. Queen Anne’s Lace is an herbaceous biennial (it doesn’t flower until its second year and then dies) that can reach up to four feet tall in optimum conditions. The stem of the plant is bright green, straight and sturdy and is covered in short, coarse hairs which is a very helpful identifier. I recently learned a clever and helpful quip that I will never forget: Queen Anne has hairy legs (referring to the hair along the stems of the plant)! The tiny, white flowers all originate from the same point and splay out in an airy, flat topped cluster (umbel). Another identifying feature is that oftentimes (but not always) the flower umbels often have a single dark purple flower in the center of the cluster. This purple flower is not always present but when it is it can be used to positively identify the plant as Queen Anne’s lace. The leaves are finely divided which gives them a lacy appearance and look almost identical to our cultivated carrot plants. Although wild carrots are edible, the whitish tap root isn’t as robust or flavorful as the cultivated carrots we are used to. Warning! There are plants such as poison hemlock that are incredibly similar looking so eating things in nature is never advised unless you can absolutely identify them! Poison hemlock has basically the same growth pattern as wild carrot however the stem of poison hemlock lacks the tiny hairs and mature plants have very definite purple splotches up and down the stems. All parts of poison hemlock are toxic but it is particularly potent in the seeds and roots. Poison hemlock is notoriously known as the poison that killed the Greek philosopher Socrates. Edible cousins of wild carrot include plants such as caraway, celery, parsley and parsnips. Although the root of the wild carrot plant is edible, contact with the sap may produce an allergic reaction in some individuals that are sensitive to it. Native pollinators such as butterflies and bees appreciate the abundance of flowers for their nectar. Wild carrot is currently blooming in all its glory so keep an eye out for it on your next trip to our favorite monument!