Under the cover of darkness, federal government silences public voices
Open-pit copper mining at the Chino Mine in southwest New Mexico.
Mason Cummings
Big industries pillage while communities suffer
Over the course of 2025, the federal government has gone out of its way to obfuscate its operations and muzzle public input in decision-making about our public lands. From the very first day he took office, President Trump has wielded vague “national emergencies” and war-time powers to open shortcuts around legally required public engagement and review processes. Even while the federal government was shut down for over a month, the Trump administration carried on business-as-usual with its reckless agenda, shredding rules and reversing protections for the places we cherish.
These are lands that belong to all of us, and shutting people out of decisions about them threatens the freedom Americans have always had to access and enjoy their public lands.
These actions have serious consequences—the Department of the Interior, for example, greenlit expansion of a defunct and potentially dangerous uranium mine near Bears Ears National Monument in a mere 14 days despite the objection of Tribes with connections to the area. Based on civilian accounting of the agency’s actions, at least eight projects across the country, including a toxic open-pit coal mine in Tennessee, have been greenlit in this rushed manner.
When public oversight disappears, the clean water, wildlife habitat and cultural landscapes our communities rely on are put at risk—all so special interests can profit.
Government blacks out windows, locks doors
In the background, the administration is also working to gut accountability and transparency in decision-making altogether.
This year, the White House Council on Environmental Quality entirely rescinded its regulations around the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)—the cornerstone law that ensures thorough review and public engagement in decisions about our shared public lands. This move has given federal agencies clearance to write their own interpretations of the law, significantly weakening environmental reviews and muzzling public input. The ensuing chaos has created a mountain of uncertainty and opened the door for an onslaught of litigation.
By dismantling NEPA, the administration isn’t just cutting corners—they're cutting the public out of decisions that shape the health, safety and future of our communities.
To make matters worse, members of Congress are mulling over a disastrous bill that, if passed, will legislate an unprecedented rollback of NEPA. Backed by Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-AK) and Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME), the Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development (SPEED) Act would curtail input from the public and Tribes while severely limiting oversight from the courts.
But that’s not all; the General Services Administration (GSA) further hamstrung public engagement in August by suddenly disabling a vital web API that allowed members of the public to more efficiently comment on federal regulations and proposals online. To put it simply, the GSA made it much more difficult for civic-minded organizations like us to gather public comments from people like you and submit them for consideration—in a clear effort to stimy public input.
When the government locks the doors and shutters the windows, we all lose the freedom to have our say in the future of the lands and waters we depend on.
Public lands in public hands?
All of these developments are part of a coordinated effort that would give the executive branch more concentrated power over public lands so the political establishment can shut out communities and give lands away to private interests. These are lands that are supposed to provide and offer freedom outdoors for all of us, not just for the rich and powerful.
Public lands are meant to remain in public hands—for the benefit of our families today and for the generations to follow.
The officials and representatives making these decisions believe that they know better than all others and are beyond reproach, but time and time again we have seen that by standing together we can bring change. No matter how tight the muzzle is put on the public, we will continue to fight with you for public lands.
Our commitment is simple: defend the freedom to access the outdoors, protect the places that keep our communities healthy and ensure future generations inherit the same opportunities we had to explore, connect and thrive.
