Overview:
The Trump administration’s Interior Department strategic plan prioritizes oil and gas development and threatens public lands, prompting concerns about potential executive actions and legal battles while invoking Theodore Roosevelt’s conservation legacy in ways that contradict his historic record of protecting public lands.
Guest Opinion
I am not sure it’s worth spending many brain cells on the Interior Department’s 2026-2030 Strategic Plan. If it was released before the election, then we’d all be mad and worried. But now? Not a chance.
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Even Western Republicans don’t like the idea of a sell off of public lands. Former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke told the Associated Press that he “remains firmly opposed to the sale or transfer of public lands.” And he would vote against any measure.
Of course the Trump administration will try to do much of this by executive order. And that means a lot of litigation ahead.
The report, really a love letter to oil and gas, misappropriates history. In his letter Interior Secretary Doug Burgum writes:
As President Theodore Roosevelt, who helped shape and define our department, explained: “Conservation means development as much as it does protection.”
Perhaps it’s worth thinking about Roosevelt’s actual record. He added roughly 230 million acres to the public land base.
A summary from the The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History:
“In the early twentieth century, President Theodore Roosevelt was a dynamic force in a relatively new movement known as conservationism. During his presidency, Roosevelt made conservation a major part of his administration. As the new century began, the frontier was disappearing. Once common animals were now threatened. Many Americans, including Roosevelt, saw a need to preserve the nation’s natural resources. He wanted to protect animals and land from businesses that he saw as a threat. Roosevelt said, “the rights of the public to the natural resources outweigh private rights, and must be given its first consideration.” By the end of his time as president, he had created five national parks, four game refuges, fifty-one national bird reservations as well as the National Forest Service. It could be said that Theodore Roosevelt, through laws, executive orders, and his strong personality, opened the nation’s eyes to the natural wonders of the land. Roosevelt had changed the attitude of America. As we begin the twenty-first century, conservation is once again an issue that the United States faces.”
Roosevelt was imperfect, but these ideals remain worthy.