This rule defines conservation as a hands-off approach to management: Effective conservation balances both active and passive strategies, benefiting the environment and its users. The proposed Public Lands Rule prioritizes a narrow definition of conservation opting for heavily restrictive leases with rigid land health standards that are contradictory to active land management. Active land management involves interventions and ongoing human effort to manage ecosystems like prescribed burns for fire mitigation, revegetation after a wildfire, and landscape restoration by removing invasive species.Â
