The Trump administration has implemented or initiated actions on over 80% of the public land priorities outlined in Project 2025, according to a report released by the Center for Western Priorities. This development comes despite President Donald Trump‘s previous disavowal of the project during his campaign. The report evaluates 70 directives related to public lands, revealing that 50% have been fully completed, while 34.3% are currently in progress and 15.7% have not been attempted.
Project 2025, a conservative policy framework drafted by the Heritage Foundation in 2022, aimed to guide a Republican presidency in 2025. The comprehensive document, exceeding 900 pages, was developed by a team of over 30 authors and more than 300 contributors. During a debate with former Vice President Kamala Harris on September 10, 2024, Trump stated, “I have nothing to do with Project 2025,” claiming he had not read it and had no intentions of doing so.
Yet, the report from the Center for Western Priorities highlights a significant shift in policy direction. “The speed with which President Trump has embraced a plan he once claimed to know nothing about is staggering,” remarked Kate Groetzinger, the organization’s communication manager. She criticized the administration’s approach as effectively transforming national public lands into profit-driven zones through expedited logging, drilling leases, and reduced regulatory oversight.
Public Land Directives and Implementation Progress
The directives related to public lands primarily involve the Department of the Interior and its various agencies, including the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the U.S. Forest Service, and the National Park Service. The recommendations within Project 2025 propose rolling back many policies established during the Biden administration, particularly those concerning endangered species and climate action. They also emphasize increasing domestic energy production, especially in sites like Alaska.
Former Bureau of Land Management head William Perry Pendley played a key role in drafting these recommendations. He expressed that under Biden, the Interior Department was “at war” with its mission, which includes developing vast natural resources responsibly. Pendley argued that the current administration prioritizes limiting economic and recreational use of BLM lands.
The report categorizes the actions taken by the Trump administration, covering fossil fuel production, federal land protections, and endangered species management among others. Notably, the findings suggest that nearly 70% of the recommendations related to fossil fuel production have been implemented.
Environmental Reviews and Fossil Fuel Production
The report indicated that all ten actions concerning limitations on environmental reviews, as recommended in Project 2025, have been either completed or initiated. The administration’s efforts to accelerate fossil fuel production began immediately with an executive order at the start of Trump’s second term, aimed at “unleashing” domestic energy. This was further reinforced by a February order from the Interior Department that rescinded numerous Biden-era climate initiatives.
The actions have resulted in the lifting of the coal leasing moratorium and the resumption of energy leasing across multiple ocean areas. Additionally, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, passed by Republicans in 2025, sought to enhance energy production through mandated lease sales.
Conversely, the report found that less than 20% of recommendations for federal land protections have been enacted, although nearly 70% are in progress. Trump’s efforts to rescind the Biden administration’s conservation goals have made strides towards implementing several roadmap recommendations, including attempts to overturn the BLM Public Lands Rule.
Regarding endangered species, the report noted that 20% of related actions have been completed, while 55% are currently underway. These include measures concerning the delisting of species such as grizzly bears and gray wolves from the Endangered Species Act.
The report also outlined actions that have yet to be attempted, which include relocating the Bureau of Land Management headquarters and repealing the Antiquities Act, signaling a continued push by the Trump administration to reshape public land management.
As the administration progresses into the second year of Trump’s presidency, the report concludes that resistance to the privatization of public lands will remain strong among Western constituents. “President Trump will undoubtedly continue to implement Project 2025 as he enters the second year of his second term,” the report states, highlighting the ongoing tension between administration policies and public sentiment regarding land management.
