This was originally published by Nevada Current on April 4, 2025.
Federal land managers have canceled their proposal to withdraw about 264,000 acres of public land in Nevada’s Ruby Mountains from oil, gas and geothermal development.
The U.S. Forest Service said the decision to allow oil and gas leasing to continue in Elko County’s Ruby Mountains was brought on by a presidential executive order titled “Unleashing American Energy,” and calling on federal land managers to remove regulatory barriers to energy production and expand access to federal lands and waters for energy exploration.
In a statement Friday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the Forest Service, said the agency was “removing the burdensome Biden-era regulations that have stifled energy and mineral development to revitalize rural communities and reaffirm America’s role as a global energy powerhouse.”
In December, the Forest Service first announced their intention to ban oil,gas, and geothermal leasing on about 264,000 acres of public land in the Ruby Mountains for up to 20 years. That directive has now been reversed by Trump appointed USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins.
As part of the directive, the agency also canceled plans to withdraw about 165,000 acres of public land in New Mexico’s Upper Pecos River Watershed from mining and geothermal leasing, according to the USDA.
Signs that the proposed ban was in trouble started on Feb. 14, when federal land managers in Nevada canceled a public meeting for the proposed oil and gas leasing ban on the same day thousands of federal workers were indiscriminately fired, including more than a dozen National Park Service employees in Nevada.
Nevada’s Ruby Mountains have been targeted by Trump in the past. During Trump’s first term, his administration proposed auctioning off more than 500,000 acres of land in Nevada for oil and gas drilling leases, including about 54,000 acres in the Ruby Mountains.
In response, Nevada Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto has pushed several versions of a bill that would withdraw about 450,000 acres of land adjacent to the Ruby Mountain from oil and gas leasing, but not mining.
Sometimes called “Nevada’s Swiss Alps” the Ruby Mountains in Elko County are the ancestral homelands of the Te-Moak Tribe of the Western Shoshone Indians of Nevada. The Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge also includes a wetland oasis for migratory waterfowl in the Pacific Flyway and fisheries that include trout and largemouth bass, attracting hunters, anglers, birdwatchers and other recreational tourists.
Nevada has seen something of an oil and gas leasing boom in recent years, with the Interior Department putting hundreds of thousands of acres on the block for lease. However, oil and gas production in Nevada has always been negligible, and both industry and environmentalists remain skeptical that significant production in Nevada will make economic sense any time soon.
Over 90 percent of public lands managed by the Interior Department in Nevada are available to be leased for oil and gas drilling. Once leased, public lands are locked up from being managed for multiple uses such as outdoor recreation and conservation for the life of the lease, which could be 10, 20 or even 30 years.
Forestry land open to timber production
The Ruby Mountains reversal comes as the Forest Service announced Friday that the agency plans to open nearly 43 million acres of National Forest System land to timber production.
The Forest Service said another 112 million acres of National Forest System land would be listed for culling to reduce wildfire risk, or 59% of all National Forest System land. The Ruby Mountains are included in the 112 million acres of National Forestry System slated for wildfire fuel reduction, according to a USDA map.
The secretarial memo comes on the heels of Trump’s executive order to expand American timber production by 25%. The memo directs federal employees to increase timber outputs, simplify permitting, and remove National Environmental Policy Act processes.
“I am proud to follow the bold leadership of President Trump by empowering forest managers to reduce constraints and minimize the risks of fire, insects, and disease so that we can strengthen the American timber industry and further enrich our forests with the resources they need to thrive,” Rollins said in a statement Friday.