Press Releases

Today, Congressional Western Caucus Chairman Doug LaMalfa (CA-01) released the following statement supporting the U.S. Department of the Interior’s proposal to overturn the Biden Administration’s onerous conservation and landscape health rule.
 
“The Biden Administration’s conservation and landscape health rule was a disaster for rural economies across Western America,” said Chairman LaMalfa. “By only permitting environmental protection as a land use, millions of acres of resource rich lands could be taken offline from mining, timber production, ranching, grazing, recreation and other uses. Thankfully, President Trump and Secretary Burgum understand the needs of the West and the importance of multiple-use management for public lands. I appreciate the action taken to overturn this disastrous rule and restore sanity to Western land management policy.”
 
Background:
 
The Biden Administration’s rule contradicts Congressional intent under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) of 1976 by elevating conservation as an eligible “use” under the law’s multiple-use framework and expands designations of Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACECs), effectively locking up lands across the West.