Conservation Leasing Key to New Climate, Land Proposal (1)

The Interior Department will prioritize conservation leasing along with wildlife habitat and wetlands restoration under a rule the agency proposed Thursday affecting roughly 245 million acres of public lands, mainly in the West.

The department’s Bureau of Land Management said its proposed Public Lands Rule, which will be open to a 75-day public comment period once it’s published in the Federal Register in the coming days, will help land managers respond and adapt to climate change.

The proposal would require officials managing federal land to prioritize protecting intact ecosystems and wildlife migration corridors, according to ...