Hundreds of elected officials across the West have asked Interior Secretary Burgum and members of Congress to protect public lands/NPS file, Kait Thomas

More than 300 elected officials from Colorado to California have signed off on a letter urging Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and members of Congress to protect public lands from being sold off, sullied by energy development or mining, climate-change impacts, and efforts to water down the Antiquities Act. 

"As local elected officials from across the Western U.S., we know firsthand that protected public lands sustain our communities and serve as the cornerstone of our outdoor way of life. These lands include traditional homelands of Indigenous populations and vital watersheds for downstream communities," reads the letter sent Wednesday by The Mountain Pact. 

"They also host outstanding fish and wildlife habitat and provide opportunities for outdoor recreation, including camping, hiking, paddling, hunting and fishing, and picnicking. Protected public lands are the backbone of our mountain communities, and right now they are under threat, which is why we must fight back to ensure these critical resources are protected and preserved for generations to come."

Already the Trump administration has taken steps that could impact public lands managed by the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and other land-management agencies. A decision to reduce the size of Chuckwalla National Monument in California has leaked out though not yet been officially announced, thousands of Park Service and Forest Service employees have been fired (though many reportedly were offered their jobs back), and Burgum has ordered his deputies to review public lands for opportunities for energy development. 

Too, Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have made it easier to sell public lands. Under the rules package they adopted for the current Congress, legislation calling for disposal of lands managed by the BLM, Forest Service, or National Park Service would not require any dollar value to be attached to the lands. Such moves "shall not be considered as providing new budget authority, decreasing revenues, increasing mandatory spending, or increasing outlays."

According to The Wilderness Society, under this rule the "Congressional Budget Office, which provides lawmakers with data so they can make budget decisions, would effectively consider public lands to have no monetary value, making wholesale sell-off of lands much simpler."

“Local elected officials know firsthand that protected public lands sustain our communities, power our economies, and serve as the cornerstone of our outdoor way of life,” said Anna Peterson, executive director of The Mountain Pact. “Protected public lands are the backbone of our mountain communities — but right now they are under threat. That’s why The Mountain Pact and more than 300 local elected leaders from across the Western U.S. are fighting back, so we can ensure these critical resources are protected and preserved for generations to come.”

In their letter, members of Mountain Pact, an organization formed in 2014 to give voice to local elected officials in more than 100 Western mountain communities with outdoor recreation-based economies, note that national parks in 2024 were responsible for $55.6 billion in economic development, while a "2020 study of communities near 14 monuments designated between 1991 and 2014 demonstrated that boosts in new businesses and jobs were associated with new monuments."

The letter went on to note how popular public lands are, and cited a 2023 Conservation in the West Poll that showed that 84 percent of Westerners — including 71 percent of Republicans — were more likely to support presidents who use their power to protect existing public lands.

"Protecting these places is also a winning issue on both sides of the aisle. Since the Antiquities Act was passed, 18 presidents — nine Democratic and nine Republican — have designated or expanded over 160 national monuments across the country," the letter said. "These presidents exercised their authority under the Antiquities Act, created many iconic and beloved monuments, including the Statue of Liberty, Giant Sequoia, Muir Woods, Great Sand Dunes, and Chimney Rock, among others."

"... Mountain communities depend on healthy and accessible public lands to survive. But increased fossil fuel development on public lands, weakened environmental regulations, and fast tracking or eliminating environmental reviews for proposed projects jeopardizes both our public lands and public health while contributing to the climate crisis by causing the release of vast amounts of potent greenhouse gas emissions," the letter added. "Fossil fuel extraction on public lands generates nearly 25 percent of the United States’ climate-change causing emissions. These emissions directly affect our Western mountain communities as we deal with dire, long-term, and costly health and climate impacts like the release of harmful methane gas, year-long wildfire seasons, drought, flooding, and extreme weather."

The letter stated that, "A balanced approach to public lands management for the West, as well as increased funding to manage these lands, would improve access and help protect some of our most important wildlife habitat, migration corridors, treasured recreation areas, critical water resources, and Indigenous cultural sites.  Now more than ever we must continue to take and support meaningful actions to both address the climate crisis and protect our public lands. We urge you to continue to support the protection of healthy public lands and take strong climate action."

Elected officials who signed the letter attested to the value public lands bring to their communities.

"Tusayan [Arizona] is home to some of the most incredible and unique landscapes on earth like the Grand Canyon and Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni-Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument, which bring thousands of visitors and millions of dollars into our community each year while supporting more than 10,000 local jobs," said Mayor Clarinda Vail. "Our community has cherished these lands for generations, and our ancestors have called this place home since time immemorial. The public lands that make this place so special are the very lifeblood of Tusayan, and must be protected so that the following generations can continue to benefit and enjoy this priceless ecosystem for years to come.”

Bozeman, Montana, Mayor Terry Cunningham said that, “[F]rom the Madison River, to Hyalite Canyon, to Yellowstone National Park, Bozeman wouldn’t be the amazing place to live and play in it is today without the collective love of our shared outdoor spaces. Public lands power our outdoor recreation economy and are the reason many of us choose to call Bozeman home. But they need to be cared for and protected, which is why I am calling for full funding for America’s public land agencies, and urging the Trump administration to oppose the sale of our irreplaceable national treasures.”

And Reno, Nevada, Councilman Devon Reese said that, "[P]rotected public lands, like national monuments, are hugely important to Nevadans and Renoites. Places like Avi Kwa Ame, Tule Springs Fossil Beds, Gold Butte, and Basin & Range national monuments bring us peace of mind, protect important cultural resources, and generate economic revenue. Protected places like these help sustain our state’s vital outdoor recreation economy, which is why and how so many of our small towns and businesses thrive. The vitality of our communities is linked to the health of our public lands, which is why I am disappointed by U.S. Rep. (Mark) Amodei’s legislation and the Trump administration’s actions that may put national monument designations in jeopardy. We should be encouraging more designations here in Nevada and across the country, so that more lands can be protected and more communities can benefit from the places they call home."

Similar testimonies came from city and county officials from New Mexico, California, Idaho, Oregon, Utah, and Washington.