BOISE, Idaho For decades, the federal government has incentivized drilling, mining, logging and livestock grazing on Americas public lands via antiquated laws and leasing programs dating back as far as the late 1800s. Never has there been a similar system for acquiring public lands in order to protect them, rather than exploit them.

That could soon change.

The Bureau of Land Management unveiled a draft rule late last month that would place conservation on equal footing with energy development and other traditional uses a proposal that seeks to confront the agencys long record of prioritizing extraction across the federal estate. A key provision of that rule would grant the BLM, which oversees one-tenth of all land in the United States, the authority to issue conservation leases to promote land protection and ecosystem restoration.

The rule would be a major shift in federal land management and could help the Biden administration achieve its goal of protecting 30% of Americas lands and waters by 2030 better known as 30x30. The U.S. is still a long way from meeting that national conservation target on land: roughly 12% of all U.S. lands are now permanently protected, compared to 23% of waters, according to federal data .

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland called the proposal a smart path to ensure healthy landscapes, abundant wildlife habitat, clear water and balanced decision-making on our public lands.

For too long, land management planning has been dominated by extractive industries, she told reporters last month at the Society of Environmental Journalists annual conference. This proposal is a long time coming and will go far to help address the growing pressures were seeing on our public lands from fossil fuel development and the impacts of the climate crisis.

The leases would be made available to restore public lands or provide mitigation for a particular action, the rule states. People, organizations or companies would be able to sponsor lands for up to a decade, depending on the individual proposal, and public access of leased areas would generally remain open, although the agency notes some lands could be temporarily closed during restoration work.

While many of the details have yet to be worked out, environmental groups and public land advocates have widely celebrated the proposal as a key first step toward better management of Americas public lands.

Its a really exciting opportunity and its so timely, Helen OShea, a renewable energy director at the Natural Resources Defense Council, told HuffPost. I really do think public land managers are facing such unprecedented challenges right now. Time is not our friend.

Conservation is not solely a use of federal lands, OShea stressed, but a strategy for combating climate change and biodiversity loss, as well as protecting communities whose livelihoods rely on public lands.

Its an investment, she said.