WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s plan to modernize its onshore oil and gas leasing regulations will help balance energy development with conservation, recreation, and other uses, conserve clean air and water, and protect people and wildlife alike from the impacts of oil and gas development.

“If we’re serious about addressing the challenges facing people and wildlife alike today, we need to move our oil and gas leasing system out of the 19th century and into the 21st,” said Collin O’Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation. “Outdated oil and gas drilling rules have degraded our public lands and shortchanged taxpayers, Tribes, and wildlife for far too long. These common-sense and decades-overdue improvements will help ensure that the Bureau of Land Management can manage and restore our public lands for the benefit of all users, including for outdoor recreation and conservation, while preventing taxpayers from being left holding the bag on clean-ups and reclamation.

The proposed leasing reforms would enact the reforms proposed in a 2021 report and codify provisions passed by Congress from the Inflation Reduction Act to protect wildlife, make taxpayers whole, and address the climate crisis.