By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
WASHINGTON — Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced a proposal Thursday, Nov. 5, to overhaul federal public land planning regulations, giving the Bureau of Land Management greater flexibility to limit the boundaries of specially designated conservation areas while reducing administrative requirements affecting millions of acres of federally managed land.
The proposed changes would revise regulations first adopted in 1979, with particular attention to Areas of Critical Environmental Concern, or ACECs, which receive special management to protect significant natural, cultural, historical and environmental resources. The department said the revisions would allow federal officials to establish conservation boundaries more precisely while maintaining opportunities for livestock grazing, mining, energy production and other authorized activities.
According to the Interior Department’s official announcement of the proposed regulatory changes, the revisions are intended to modernize land-use planning, strengthen coordination with state and local governments and accelerate decisions involving public lands.
“Public lands are set aside for the benefit and use of the American people,” Burgum said. “They should be managed by the people closest to the land, not held back by outdated bureaucracy in D.C. By empowering state and local leaders and cutting decades-old red tape, we’re making it easier to conserve our natural resources, boost production and create a more affordable and abundant supply of food and energy for American families.”
A central provision would change how the BLM evaluates the boundaries of ACECs, which are designated to prevent irreparable damage to important environmental and other resources. The department said the agency would seek to “right-size” these designations by concentrating protective measures on the resources requiring special management rather than applying broad restrictions across surrounding land.
The department characterized some existing boundaries as “oversized buffer zones when those lands are supposed to be managed for multiple use.”
Under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, the BLM manages public lands for multiple purposes, including recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development, wildlife habitat and conservation. ACEC designations provide additional protection where significant resources or natural hazards warrant special management.
The agency oversees approximately 245 million acres of public land, primarily across 12 Western states, including Alaska, and administers approximately 700 million acres of federal subsurface mineral estate nationwide.
Beyond conservation designations, the proposed overhaul would revise planning terminology, eliminate duplicative administrative requirements and remove program-specific procedures that the department says are more appropriately addressed elsewhere in federal regulations.
The changes would also modify how the BLM coordinates land management decisions with state and local officials and organizes opportunities for public participation. Interior officials said public input would remain part of the planning process but would be concentrated at stages when comments could most directly inform agency decisions.
BLM Director Steve Pearce said the existing regulatory framework imposes unnecessary costs and delays.
“The current planning process is too slow, too complicated and weighed down by outdated requirements,” Pearce said. “These proposed changes would help the BLM make decisions more efficiently, reduce costs for taxpayers and improve coordination with the people and communities that rely on public lands.”
The regulations have undergone only two significant updates since their original adoption in 1979, primarily to clarify the responsibilities of cooperating agencies and eliminate obsolete provisions, according to the department.
The new proposal follows a separate regulatory action in May 2026 restoring earlier ACEC designation procedures. The latest initiative would provide additional flexibility in managing those protected areas as part of the administration’s broader effort to simplify federal land-use decisions.
The changes have not been finalized and would not automatically eliminate existing conservation designations. Their eventual effects would depend on the final regulatory language and how the BLM applies the revised standards in future planning decisions.
The Interior Department said the proposed rule would appear in the Federal Register during the week of Nov. 9, initiating a 60-day public comment period. Comments may be submitted through Regulations.gov using regulatory identification number RIN 1004-AF53 or mailed to the BLM’s Washington headquarters.
The agency has also scheduled a virtual public information session for Dec. 3 at 5 p.m. Mountain time, with registration required. The session will be recorded and made available afterward through the BLM website.
Following the comment period, federal officials will review public submissions before determining whether to revise or finalize the proposed regulations.
The initiative could influence future land management decisions across much of the American West, where federal conservation requirements frequently intersect with ranching, mineral extraction, energy production, recreation and other uses of public land.
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