Badlands Conservation Alliance seeks to defend public land rule that North Dakota AG office opposes
A North Dakota conservation group is seeking to join a lawsuit to defend a new federal rule that changes how over 245 million acres of federal lands are managed.
The federal Bureau of Land Management finalized the Public Lands Rule in April which elevates the role that conservation practices play in land use decisions. It puts them on par with extractive practices such as mining, fracking, grazing and logging. The agency oversees around 10% of all U.S. public surface lands.
In June, the state governments of North Dakota, Montana and Idaho levied a legal challenge against the rule, arguing it violates a number of laws that outline the BLM's authority, and that if implemented, it could indirectly impact surface and mineral development on state and private land. The BLM has denied all allegations.
The Badlands Conservation Alliance on Thursday announced that it is seeking to intervene in that lawsuit to defend the new rule along with a number of other environmental, conservation and community groups. The groups say their intervention is necessary because they have a unique interest of "conserving public lands for their irreplaceable cultural resources, wildlife habitat, recreational opportunities, clean air and water, and role in combating climate change."
Mostly at issue is the BLM's "multiple-use mandate," and whether conservation practices fit into that framework.
The states challenging the rule argue that conservation constitutes a "non-use."
But the coalition of groups supporting the rule argue that the law does not require there to be development on public lands for it to be in use, pointing to parts of the management laws that take into account environmental protections related to the land's other purposes.
The environmental groups also argue that the approach of defining conservation as a land use practice is popular, pointing to a conservation group's random sample of 10,000 public comments from a pool of over 150,000 that the BLM received on the rule. Over 90% of filings that are part of the sample were in support of the rule.
The BLM's rule is one of the many that North Dakota Attorney General's Office is involved in challenging. The Biden Administration has sought to address climate change through altering a number of rules at federal agencies. The state often argues that many of these skirt congressional intent and approval.
Shannon Straight, Badlands Conservation Alliance executive director said in a statement that the rule can help North Dakota reach Gov. Doug Burgum's stated goal of making the state carbon-neutral by 2030. Most of Burgum's efforts have revolved around incentivizing engineered carbon capture and storage projects at ethanol and coal plants - the governor also tends to disfavor federal regulations. But nature-based conservation and restoration efforts can play a role in reaching carbon neutrality.
"North Dakota public lands and waters, including our iconic grasslands, are a vital habitat for wildlife and fish that feed our growing recreation economy and sustain a way of life in western ND," Straight said.
"Grasslands store carbon naturally in their deep root systems and are a dwindling natural resource due to the impacts from extractive industries. Implementation of the Public Lands Rule would make public lands across the country more resilient to climate change which will help offset the impacts from decades of oil and gas development within North Dakota and the decades of development on the horizon."
Reach Joey Harris at 701-250-8252 or .
Energy/Environment Reporter
