Yesterday, the Bureau of Land Management announced a change to federal land leasing policies. The new rule permits federal land to be leased for voluntary conservation and restoration purposes. This development is seen as a positive step toward advancing conservation leasing efforts.

Brian Yablonski, CEO of PERC, commented on the announcement: "The Bureau’s proposed rule is a big step in the right direction toward putting conservation on equal footing with other uses like drilling, mining, and ranching. Empowering conservationists to channel their interests through a market mechanism is more effective than zero-sum political warfare."

PERC advocates for creating markets for conservation on public lands, suggesting that this would allow resources to be managed for their highest-valued uses—whether consumption or conservation. They argue that open markets providing everyone with a seat at the table could facilitate cooperative decision-making in land use and reduce conflict through voluntary exchange.

PERC offers several resources related to this topic, including articles titled "Conservation Groups Should Be Able to Lease Land to Protect It," "The Case for Conservation Leasing," "Why Don’t Environmentalists Just Buy What They Want to Protect?" and "Allow 'Nonuse Rights' to Conserve Natural Resources."