Burgum Vows To Unleash American Energy — Now He Just Needs Congress To Do Their Part
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum seeks to rewrite BLM planning rules to shrink oversized ACEC buffers on federal land and focus protection goals on specific designations, aiming to preserve multiple uses while reducing bureaucratic delays. The proposal, not final yet, will enter a 60-day public-comment period after publication in the Federal Register. ACECs, which cover tens of millions of acres across the West, are intended to protect historic, scenic, and ecological values, but critics worry they have been used to restrict energy and other development. The move signals a shift toward state and local leadership in land management, with potential impacts on grazing, mining, recreation, and energy production, and a push for more transparent, streamlined processes. The administration frames the effort as restoring balance and affordability in land use, with details forthcoming from the rulemaking.
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The Interior Department announced a forthcoming rule that would rewrite BLM planning rules in order to right-size Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACECs) and emphasize the purposes those designations are meant to protect, rather than large buffer zones; a public-comment window of 60 days will follow Federal Register publication.
ACECs are areas designated to receive special management attention to safeguard historic, scenic, cultural, or natural values, and they can help shield communities from natural hazards; the BLM manages about 245 million acres under the principle of 'multiple use.'
As of Sept. 30, 2025, ACECs and research natural areas totalled 1,172 sites covering roughly 24.3 million acres, up from about 21.5 million acres across 1,171 sites a year earlier, with acreage figures subject to database refinements.
Historically, a large share of ACEC designations occurred in a single year: 254 of 377 ACECs designated over the preceding decade were added in 2016, Obama’s last full year in office, a pattern unmatched in other years.
Industry voices argue ACECs often include buffers around sites and that the new rules could set guidance for buffer sizes or otherwise tighten designation scope; some see the move as restoring energy development access and reducing regulatory delay, while others warn of potential land-use restrictions.
BLM Director Steve Pearce framed the rewrite as a way to deliver more efficient decisions, lower taxpayer costs, and better coordination with local communities, while the regulatory agenda labels the effort as deregulatory and aligned with a Trump-era view of clarifying ACEC designation processes.
The administration had previously acted toroll back Biden-era protections with related rule changes, signaling a broader shift in how public lands are balanced among grazing, timber, minerals, recreation, and conservation.