The Wilderness Society calls for AI data center moratorium on public lands
Google data center in Iowa (for illustrative purposes only)
Chad Davis, Flickr
Impacts on water, energy, wildlife, public access demand scrutiny and greater input
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Oct. 5, 2026) – With the administration reportedly considering developing data centers on Bureau of Land Management lands across the West, The Wilderness Society is calling for a moratorium on AI data centers on public lands.
If the administration won’t enact a moratorium, then Congress should pass a moratorium in the upcoming lame duck session. The pause is immediately and urgently necessary to allow policymakers to provide the public with information about the potential threats posed by data centers to water supplies, energy demand, wildlife habitat and public access, and an opportunity to weigh in on whether data centers should ever be permitted on our national public lands.
Tracy Stone-Manning, president of The Wilderness Society, made the following statement:
“Public lands have been handed down to use as shared places where we make lifetime memories, hike, hunt, camp and fish. Before we rush headlong into sacrificing these lands for an industrial AI boom, our elected leaders need to hit the pause button and ask the public—the owners of these lands—if this is what we want for our shared public lands. Future generations deserve no less."
Contact: mgreenberg@tws.org | newsmedia@tws.org
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