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WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Biden-Harris administration today submitted to Congress the President’s Budget for fiscal year 2025 that includes approximately $1.6 billion for the Bureau of Land Management to strengthen and expand the agency's multiple use and sustained yield mandate.

With those funds, BLM will expand the Administration’s commitment to address the climate crisis; accelerate responsible development of renewable energy on public lands; create family-supporting union jobs, and advance environmental justice and partnerships. The goals are furthered by the once-in-a-generation investments from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act.

The proposed 2025 budget includes investments to address the climate crisis by accelerating clean energy development, restoring and conserving lands and waters, and controlling or eradicating noxious and invasive plant species.

“We have a historic opportunity and responsibility to restore our public lands and deliver the clean energy needed to combat climate change, while creating good jobs to do it,’’ said BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning. “The budget reflects the Administration’s continued commitment to striking the right balance between enduring land conservation and responsible use of the nation’s resources.”

As steward for roughly 245 million acres of public land – more than any other federal land management agency – the BLM plays a critical role in achieving the climate and economic goals of the Biden-Harris administration. The agency works in partnership with thousands of Tribes and communities, mostly across the American West and in Alaska where many of the agency’s employees live and work. More than 120 urban centers and thousands of rural towns are located within 25 miles of lands overseen by the BLM, which manages these lands for multiple uses including energy development, grazing, recreation, conservation, and timber harvesting.

The proposed budget will:

• Strengthen climate resilience and conservation partnerships. The FY 2025 budget includes investments to support the restoration and protection of public lands managed by the BLM, delivering on a commitment and obligation to future generations. These funds will support the Administration’s America the Beautiful initiative by improving equitable access to the outdoors and strengthening the economy. Focusing on locally led, voluntary conservation efforts, America the Beautiful seeks to conserve, connect, and restore 30 percent of the nation’s lands and waters by 2030. The budget requests $317.4 million for Land Resources, which provides for integrated management of public land resources, including forestry, range, and cultural resources, as well as wild horse and burro management. A request of $153.4 million for Wildlife Habitat Management will enhance conservation and restoration of BLM-managed lands. The BLM will combine some of these funds with investments from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to further the Department of Interior’s Sagebrush Keystone Initiative, a collaborative effort to restore sagebrush habitat across millions of acres to benefit the greater sage-grouse and hundreds of other sagebrush-dependent native wildlife species.  The request for Wildlife Habitat Management also includes increased funds to advance implementation of the National Seed Strategy, which is critical to the success of BLM’s landscape restoration investments.
• Accelerate responsible development of renewable energy on public lands. The BLM manages large swaths of lands across the West that have exceptional potential for wind, geothermal, and solar development. The BLM is helping to meet the Administration’s goal of permitting 25 gigawatts of renewable energy on public lands by 2025 as part of the broader strategy to rapidly reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50 percent by 2030. The FY 2025 budget request proposes $53.1 million for the Renewable Energy Management program – an increase of $12.1 million over the 2023 Enacted level – to support increasing demand for siting, leasing, processing rights-of-way applications, and oversight of renewable energy projects and transmission lines on BLM-managed public lands. The BLM is currently processing 66 utility-scale onshore clean energy projects proposed on public lands in the western United States. This includes solar, wind, and geothermal projects, as well as interconnected gen-tie lines that are vital to clean energy projects proposed on non-Federal land.
• Create good-paying jobs. The proposed FY 2025 BLM budget will advance the Administration’s effort to create good-paying jobs that provide a free and fair chance to join a union. This includes jobs for remediating and reclaiming abandoned wells and mines. In addition to annual appropriations, the BLM will use funds from Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to address orphaned oil and gas wells, which will mitigate the risks to ground water and air pollution. Abandoned mines also present health and safety hazards on BLM-managed public lands, where approximately 103,000 abandoned hardrock mine features dot the landscape. The budget proposes $58.4 million for Abandoned Mine Lands and Hazardous Materials.  

The BLM will also continue to implement the Great American Outdoors Act to address the BLM’s deferred maintenance backlog to more effectively support public safety, visitor access, and visitor enjoyment. The BLM anticipates that completion of the proposed FY 2024 projects will address approximately $91.8 million in deferred maintenance needs. Together, the Great American Outdoors Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the Inflation Reduction Act are a historic investment in clean water, clean air, and wildlife habitat that will benefit people, landscapes, and local economies for generations to come.  The BLM estimates that $125.7 million in deferred maintenance will be addressed with its 2025 requested Great American Outdoors Act Landscape Restoration Fund projects.

• Promote diversity, equity, and inclusion and partnerships. The FY 2025 budget will help support underserved communities that have been adversely and disproportionately impacted by energy and mining activities. The impacts of climate change and environmental degradation in the United States are not evenly distributed in our society. Communities of color, low-income families, and rural and Indigenous communities have long suffered disproportionate and cumulative harm from air pollution, water pollution, and toxic sites. The BLM dedicates time and resources to engage a wide range of stakeholders and communities in all its land management decisions, as well as conducting formal consultation with Tribes in recognition of the U.S. government’s trust responsibilities. The budget also proposes $61.5 million for Recreation Resources Management, which will allow the BLM to undertake recreation site and trail maintenance and design improvements to mitigate recreation conflicts with sensitive natural resources, improve access, and enhance the overall recreational experience. In addition, the BLM will integrate its approach with the Department of the Interior’s Equity Action Plan to promote equitable access to recreation while conserving, protecting, and enhancing these public lands and the experiences they offer.

For more information on the President’s FY 2025 Budget, please visit: https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/