Three States Challenge Public Lands Conservation Standards

North Dakota, Idaho, and Montana are challenging an Interior Department rule that expands ecosystem health and resilience regulations on public lands.

The rule “makes the radical leap” of defining “conservation” as “a use on par with other uses of the public lands” under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, the states told the US District Court for the District of North Dakota on June 21.

The goal of the rule, which went into effect on June 10, is to help the Bureau of Land Management “maintain the resilience of ecosystems on public lands” by protecting landscapes and restoring ...