Meet the 10 Worst Public Lands Villains—And the Damage They’re Doing Right Now

An in-depth introduction to the officials hell-bent on selling, drilling, and destroying America’s public lands.

If you’ve ever looked at a pristine national park and thought, “Wow, this place would be even better with an oil rig”—congratulations, you might qualify for a job in the 2025 U.S. government.

I’ve spent the last few months researching the politicians and officials working hardest to strip protections from our public lands, gut conservation laws, and hand over national forests, parks, and wilderness to industry. What I found was worse than I expected. Some of these people aren’t just rolling back protections—they’ve spent their entire careers trying to dismantle public lands—and now they’ve got the keys.

One of them has spent decades suing the agency she now runs, fighting to make sure every possible acre gets drilled. Another is a governor-turned-Interior Secretary whose loyalty to the oil industry is so deep, he probably dreams in crude prices. And then there’s the congressman so deep into conspiracies that he’s encouraging illegal uranium mining in the Grand Canyon. This isn’t just ba…