Tell Interior Secretary Burgum: Americans Across Party Lines Say Public Lands Are Not for Sale

 

PLEASE TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK OUT AND PROTECT PUBLIC LANDS 

AS OUR SHARED INHERITANCE!

America’s public lands belong to all of us -- and it’s time to take them back.

They are not line items on a ledger.

They are not commodities to be tallied and traded for short-term gain. When Interior Secretary Doug Burgum suggests treating public lands as part of the nation’s financial “balance sheet,” he reduces living ecosystems -- wildlife habitat, clean water sources, and irreplaceable landscapes -- into assets, as if they exist to be monetized rather than protected.

Public lands are held in trust for the American people, not managed as inventory to be liquidated. Their value cannot be captured in GDP or extracted through drilling and mining without consequence. Once degraded, these lands do not simply “recover” on a quarterly timeline, and the damage can last for generations.

The nomination of Steve Pearce to lead the Bureau of Land Management raises serious concerns, given his history of supporting efforts to sell or transfer federal lands out of public hands. At the same time, some in Congress are attempting to use the Congressional Review Act to roll back land management plans, potentially reopening protected areas to industrial use.

Send a direct message to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum: Our public lands are not entries on a ledger. They are our shared inheritance -- and they are not for sale.

SIGN & SEND

In contrast, the American people are clear: We want our public lands protected. The 2026 Conservation in the West Poll found that 84% of Western voters oppose weakening land, water, and wildlife protections, and 91% support keeping protections for national monuments. In today’s divided political climate, this is one of the rare issues that unifies Americans.

This overwhelming bipartisan support for conservation includes Democrats, Republicans, and Independents alike. Americans want public lands to remain accessible, healthy, and intact.

But right now, Doug Burgum’s Department of the Interior is deciding whether these lands will remain protected or be opened up to exploitation. Unfortunately, the thinking seems to be rejecting the value of stewardship and increasing the extraction of resources. They are treating public lands not as a shared inheritance, but as a stockpile to be drawn down.

Taking back America’s public lands means rejecting the idea that they exist to serve a balance sheet. It means reaffirming that their purpose is to sustain life, preserve natural heritage, and remain open to all -- not parceled off to the highest bidder or degraded for short-term profit.

Tell Secretary Burgum to protect our public lands and stop reducing them to “balance sheet” items for good.

Thank you for standing up for the principle of defending protected lands.

-Rick

Rick Weiland, Founder
TakeItBack.Org

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