Interior Secretary Doug Burgum detailed plans Thursday to reshape a popular conservation program but stopped short of siphoning hundreds of millions of dollars in funds from land acquisition to maintenance projects.
Burgum announced changes to how the Interior Department and its agencies will deploy the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), which uses proceeds from offshore oil and gas drilling to acquire new federal lands and waters, as well as fund state grants for recreation.
The shifts, which Burgum outlined in Secretarial Order 3442, echo a similar missive issued in the first Trump administration by then-Secretary David Bernhardt. They include directions broadly discouraging the Bureau of Land Management from acquiring additional property, while also supporting the sell-off of federal lands to states.
“The Land and Water Conservation Fund continues to deliver on its promise to connect Americans to the outdoors while protecting the landscapes that make our nation special,” Burgum said in a statement.
