Stop the Attack on Public Lands – Statement of Principles

Mighty Earth opposes the Trump administration's removal of protections from millions of acres of US public lands and waters, warning that companies engaging in extractive activities in these areas face risks of stranded assets, legal challenges, and public backlash. The statement calls for companies and banks to adopt policies against new or expanded commercial activity on protected or formerly protected federal lands.

• The Trump administration has removed protections from over 150 million acres of public lands and attempted to remove protections for more than 119 million acres of public waters, while offering nearly 500 million acres of public land and water for oil and gas development.
• Specific controversial rollbacks include modifications to the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante National Monuments in Utah, opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and Arctic Ocean to oil and gas, reducing sage-grouse habitat protections across seven western states, abandoning mineral withdrawal for Minnesota’s Boundary Water Canoe Wilderness Area, proposing uranium development near the Grand Canyon, and unraveling National Roadless Rule protections in Alaska's Tongass National Forest.
• Companies and investors pursuing extractive activities on these lands face significant risks, including stranded assets and public backlash, as 91% of voters in a 2016 poll viewed the protection of national parks and public lands as an important federal goal.
• Since the start of the Trump administration, 436,392,125 offshore acres and 19,261,339 onshore acres have been offered to the oil and gas industry.

APA

Jones, S. (2019). Stop the Attack on Public Lands – Statement of Principles. Mighty Earth. https://mightyearth.org/article/stop-the-attack-on-public-lands-statement-of-principles/

Chicago

Jones, Sydney. Stop the Attack on Public Lands – Statement of Principles. Mighty Earth, 2019. https://mightyearth.org/article/stop-the-attack-on-public-lands-statement-of-principles/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Jones |first1=Sydney |title=Stop the Attack on Public Lands – Statement of Principles |publisher=Mighty Earth |date=2 October 2019 |url=https://mightyearth.org/article/stop-the-attack-on-public-lands-statement-of-principles/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{jones2019stop, author = {Jones, Sydney}, title = {{Stop the Attack on Public Lands – Statement of Principles}}, publisher = {Mighty Earth}, year = {2019}, month = oct, url = {https://mightyearth.org/article/stop-the-attack-on-public-lands-statement-of-principles/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }