Public Lands, Forests, and Mining

The Public Lands, Forests, and Mining Subcommittee is a specialized division of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources that handles legislation and oversight of federal land and resource management. As a subcommittee, it conducts initial hearings and reviews bills before they advance to the full committee, which has final authority to report legislation to the Senate floor.

The subcommittee's jurisdiction covers a broad range of public land issues. It oversees public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service, including grazing and farming rights, wilderness areas, and wildlife refuges. The subcommittee also handles national mining and minerals policy, surface mining and reclamation, federal mineral leasing, and Outer Continental Shelf leasing. This specialized focus allows the subcommittee to develop expertise in the complex intersection of conservation, resource extraction, and land management that affects western states in particular.

Chaired by Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) with Ranking Member Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), the 15-member subcommittee has been active in recent months. In December 2025, it held hearings on bills addressing forest health, wildfire mitigation, wilderness designations, and grazing policy. In February 2026, the subcommittee received testimony on legislation focused on public lands management, grazing policy, wildfire mitigation, mineral development, and conservation across the West, including bills on offshore critical minerals and land conveyances to local governments.

The subcommittee exists because public lands and mining policy requires sustained technical expertise and regional knowledge. By handling these issues in a specialized forum before full committee consideration, the subcommittee allows the broader Energy and Natural Resources Committee to focus on its wider portfolio while ensuring that land management and mining issues receive thorough initial review.