BLM adopts rule described as a 'generation-defining' shift for America's largest land manager

On April 18th, the Bureau of Land Management adopted a long-awaited rule that aims to put conservation initiatives "on equal footing" with oil and gas leasing, grazing and other commercial uses of federal land.

The rule "combines our ongoing work with a vision for conservation to help us manage lands into the 21st century," BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning said in a video announcing the rule. "It ensures that the BLM can carry out its multiple-use and sustained-yield mission now and into the future - a mission that includes providing minerals, energy, forage, timber and recreational opportunit...