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Two kids run along a fallen sequoia tree.
Sequoia National Park Children walking along a fallen tree in Circle Meadow in the Giant Forest section of Sequoia National Park, California to celebrate the National Park Services' centennial year. © Nick Hall
Policy

Protect Public Lands

Defend our natural treasures.

Last updated April 27, 2026

Dense forests, winding shorelines, expansive grasslands and desert landscapes. America’s public lands are our playgrounds for exploring and seeking adventure. They keep nature in balance. They are where families fish, hike and pass down outdoor traditions. They make local economies stronger.

But threats to our country’s public lands are growing. Over the past year, there have been proposals to sell off millions of acres of public lands for non-conservation uses, including mining, drilling and development. If our public lands—like national parks, national forests and wildlife refuges—are sold and developed, iconic landscapes could be destroyed and public access would disappear.

Americans put their trust in land managers, park rangers, wildland firefighters and others to steward our nation’s natural legacy for future generations. Ninety three percent of Americans agree that one of the things our government does best is to protect and preserve our national history and natural beauty.

Congress, therefore, must stand up for public lands. It must keep public lands in public hands.

A herd of bison graze at sunset.
Bison grazing on the Zapata Ranch in Colorado with the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Sangre de Cristo mountains in the background. © Nick Hall

Public lands support our way of life

Hunting in North Dakota Starts with Public Lands (1:05) For hunters like Clint, public lands inspire wonder. At more than a million acres, the Little Missouri National Grassland is the largest in the nation—a vast refuge for wildlife, hunters and anglers. America’s public lands belong to all of us, and federal stewardship ensures treasured landscapes, like North Dakota’s badlands, stay protected, wild and accessible for generations to come.
Keeping Big Bend National Park Alive (1:09) Imagine spending your life tracking bears and mountain lions. For Raymond, a retired biologist and park ranger who spent decades working in Big Bend National Park, that work was part of a career he’s deeply proud of and his personal contribution to America’s legacy of protecting and caring for national parks.
Supporting Responsible Ranching in Wyoming (1:09) At Ishawooa Mesa Ranch, raising cattle goes hand-in-hand with caring for the land. Forest Service grazing allotments allow Greg and his daughter, Morgan, to responsibly graze their herd on Wyoming’s public rangelands—where cattle thrive entirely on native grasses. Ranching this way also means they're focused on farming the land to regenerate pastures, protect clean water and support wildlife habitat.
Sharing Yellowstone's Magic Requires Public Lands (1:02) What if your workday involved bison, wolves and geysers? That’s everyday life for MacNeil Lyons, founder of Yellowstone Insight, who’s turned his passion for wild places into a 20‑plus‑year career helping people witness the magic of Yellowstone National Park up close. But MacNeil’s business—and thousands more like it—is only possible because our national parks and public lands are federally protected, funded and accessible to everyone.
Protecting Rock Climbing in Kentucky (:54) Climbing gear? Check. Epic routes? Check. Public lands? Absolutely essential. For Ben, a climbing guide in the Red River Gorge in Kentucky, his favorite part of his job is watching people light up on the wall. But none of it would be possible without public lands, like national forests, which support not just his job but the economy of the entire region.
Protected Rivers Support Fly Fishing in Washington (1:07) Joe Rotter's backyard is the Yakima River, and it never gets old. As a fly-fishing guide, he spends his days chasing trout in the Yakima, which winds through protected public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management. For Joe, it’s more than a job—it’s a way of life that depends on protecting this river and land for everyone to enjoy.
Creating Family Traditions on Oregon's Public Lands (1:12) Every summer, one family turns the Fremont-Winema National Forest in Oregon into their own Olympic arena—a tradition that’s lasted for decades. Public lands make these cherished moments possible and federal funding ensures trails and campsites are maintained, habitats protected and wild places remain open for all.
Maintaining Safe Trails in Vermont (1:07) Lorne Currier’s boots hit the trail long before ours do. With support from the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Department of the Interior, Lorne and his crew have helped build safe and sustainable trails in Vermont's Green Mountain National Forest so people can have easy access to adventure and nature.
Learning to Sail in Connecticut (1:05) Tobey’s not just teaching his cousin Charlie to sail — he’s passing down a love for the water and our oceans that’s only possible because government policies and funding keep our water clean and accessible to all. This very cove is where Tobey first learned to sail as a kid, and thanks to federal investments, it's still a safe space for Tobey to teach Charlie how to sail and how to care for the places we cherish.
Inspiring Pottery in New Mexico (1:04) Logan Wannamaker’s pottery is shaped by the high mountain desert of New Mexico, where protected public lands inspire every form and color. Each piece is a tribute to the land, native plants and waters just outside his studio door. Protecting public lands means preserving the art they make possible.
Protecting Public Lands in Virginia (1:14) For decades, Laura's watched the land around her family's farm in northern Virginia change as development creeps closer. But thanks to federal protections and conservation, wild places like nearby Great Falls National Park remain untouched. Today, she explores those same trails with her grandchildren, passing on a love for nature that will span generations.
D.C.'s Public Lands Benefit Dogs and People (:56) Molly’s business, Happy Hikers D.C., depends on two things: dogs and national parks. She and her four-legged hikers often explore federally protected public lands surrounding our nation's capital, like Theodore Roosevelt Island, where safe trails and natural beauty offer a daily escape from the city for her and her furry companions.
Learning to Kayak in Colorado's Public Lands (:54) Ceci’s dad, John, isn’t just teaching her to whitewater kayak—he’s teaching her to love the outdoors. At 10 years old, she’s already paddling through rapids with confidence. Their classroom is Colorado's clean, wild rivers, which flow through federally protected public lands and national parks.

Public lands belong to all of us—they should not be sold off to the highest bidder.

Under the careful and responsible management of federal land agencies, America’s public landscapes help meet the needs of people and nature. Congress and our federal agencies should be focusing on the long-term care of and investment in our public lands.

There are already laws and processes in place that authorize the federal government to identify lands that don’t serve conservation needs which can be sold to support further conservation investments. Examples include selling parcels that have been identified through a planning process as having low conservation value and being scattered, isolated or otherwise challenging and expensive to manage. These decisions should be done in consultation with stakeholders through a transparent and science-driven process.

We need these processes because any sort of sale of the public’s protected, natural landscapes is irreversible and would erase these landscapes’ natural benefits. That’s why The Nature Conservancy opposes any large-scale sell-off of federally owned lands for non-conservation uses.

High Support for Public Lands

Americans overwhelmingly agree—we must protect and invest in public lands and waters—even in tough budget times.

  • Graphic of three trees.

    80%

    Western voters who oppose the federal government selling public lands across the West to private interests.

  • Graphic of a capitol building dome with a flag on top.

    93%

    American voters who want to continue to use fees from oil and gas drilling to fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

  • Icon of rivers and trees.

    89%

    Voters who agree that even with federal budget problems, funding to safeguard land, air and water should not be cut.

  • Graphic of construction workers in hard hats.

    79%

    Western voters who support maintaining funding for public lands, including the park rangers, wildfire crews and scientists who safeguard these places

  • Graphic of a parcel of land with a fence and trees growing on it.

    78%

    Americans who prefer spending LWCF funds on land, water and wildlife protection over diverting them to roads and infrastructure on public lands.

  • Icon of partnership.

    47%

    Western voters who oppose states taking over the ownership and management of public lands compared to 32% who support.

A park ranger holding a tool stands on a rock outcrop overlooking a lake.
Park Rangers at Work A park ranger from Acadia National Park uses a telemetry system to search for tagged bats . The National Park Service tags bats to monitor their movements throughout the park in Maine. © Nick Hall

National agencies are better prepared than states to manage our public lands

Some states across the country are recommending that the federal government transfer the ownership and management of our public lands to state control. At first glance, this proposal could seem like a smart direction, but most states don’t have the staff resources or budget to successfully steward public lands. And when you transfer public lands to state management, that state and its taxpayers are also responsible for all associated costs such as preventing and fighting wildfires, managing recreation and visitation, and responding to flood and drought.

This could lead to more problems, including exploiting public lands by mining, drilling, or overharvesting forests to cover management costs. It could also open the door to future sell-offs as states struggle to balance budgets.

A 2026 economic report showed that if Idaho took on the ownership and management of its federal public lands, it would cost the state’s taxpayers over $837 million per year. That’s over 15% of Idaho’s entire annual budget.

The simple truth is that federal agencies—like the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service—are more prepared and better resourced to safeguard national public lands. We should be investing more into the care and management of our public lands—not transferring or selling off these national treasures.

Horseback riders ride across a sand dune at the base of mountains.
Ranching on Public Lands Riders from Zapata Ranch take a morning horseback ride through the Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado. © Nick Hall
White waters rush over large boulders.
Great Falls National Park Mather Gorge, at Great Falls National Park in Virginia, is the heart of the Potomac Gorge. © Joseph Rossbach
Grand Canyon National Park.
LWCF Grand Canyon Village in Arizona © Hongyu Guo

Defend LWCF

For more than 60 years, the Land and Water Conservation Fund has protected millions of acres of natural landscapes in every county in the U.S. But new federal guidelines are making it harder to use existing resources and funding to invest in conservation of our public lands and waters.

Tell Congress now to defend LWCF and oppose creating new roadblocks for critical LWCF projects.

Public lands for the public good

The federal government has, for decades, helped conserve, restore and manage large natural landscapes. And this work is vital because public lands:

  • Safeguard our traditions of hunting, fishing and other outdoor recreation by maintaining and increasing access to these landscapes.
  • Drive a $1.2 trillion outdoor economy that supports communities across America, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
  • Provide food and shelter for a wide variety of plants and animals.

One of the best tools to strengthen our public lands and ensure they are accessible to all Americans is the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The Great American Outdoors Act, signed into law in 2020, provides mandatory funding for LWCF at no less than $900 million a year. And this funding comes entirely from the proceeds from offshore oil and gas leasing. None of this money comes from American taxpayers. LWCF has an incredibly successful history but it needs support from Congress and the Administration for full implementation.

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