A bill sponsored by Colorado Republican Rep. Jeff Hurd seeks to undo numerous Bureau of Land Management resource plans that Republican critics say restrict multiple uses on large swaths of bureau rangelands.
Hurd’s H.R. 1997, introduced Monday, has sparked pushback from conservation groups that counter the legislation is part of an ongoing Trump administration effort to undo policies implemented by former President Joe Biden that they say helped balance mining, oil and gas development, and other uses of public lands with conservation and restoration.
The bill targets nine finalized resource management plans approved for covering millions of acres of BLM rangelands in Colorado, Montana, Oregon and Wyoming.
The bill would direct the Interior secretary, within 60 days of approval, to reissue the records of decision for the nine land-use plans with a different selected alternative that was already subjected to public comment and evaluation during the land-use planing process. In each case, the new alternative lifts restrictions on mining, oil and gas activities that are part of the finalized plans.
