One thing opponents and proponents of a recently proposed U.S. Bureau of Land Management rule agree on: It would be a major shift in how the agency manages nearly 250 million acres of federal lands.

The rule would allow for conservation leases, similar to how the agency auctions off parcels of land for mining, livestock grazing or oil and gas development. Supporters say the proposal would lift conservation to the level of extractive uses, a responsible move to protect lands affected by climate change.

Outraged opponents — including many congressional Republicans — view the rule as a drastic overreach that violates existing law. Fears that conservation leases would evict grazing permittees and others have only been stoked by Republican rhetoric on the issue.

“The BLM has time and again shown their aim is to drastically reduce, or even eliminate, grazing on public lands, and this proposed rule is the latest iteration of this effort,” Washington Republican U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse said in a May 22 statement announcing a bill to block the proposed rule.

But the rule would have little to no impact on existing users of federal lands, the proposal’s supporters say.

They say opponents have been led astray by an inherent distrust of President Joe Biden’s administration, apprehension about a big change in the agency that manages their livelihoods, or fed misinformation by oil and gas allies.

“There has been a lot of confusion around the proposed rule,” Danielle Murray, senior legal...

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