Congressional Public Lands Score by More Than Just Parks

Scored 90% or higher.

Sen. Brian Schatz, a Democrat from Hawaii, earns an A on the Congressional Public Lands Score. Of the 19 scored Senate votes, Schatz cast 18 for public lands and 1 against. The two closest: Nay on One Big Beautiful Bill (H.R.1), 50 to 50, and Nay on Overturning Boundary Waters Mining Ban (H.J.Res.140), 50 to 49. Schatz's seat is not on the 2026 ballot.

Every scored vote: 19 of 19 U.S. Senate votes counted

• Pro-lands

  Lilly Fish and Wildlife and Parks (En Bloc) S.Res.817

  En bloc confirmation of 74 nominees under S.Res.817, including Kevin Lilly as Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, the official overseeing the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Lilly, a Texas wealth manager, drew formal opposition from the National Parks Conservation Association, and senators from both parties questioned his lack of land management experience. Confirmed 51-47. Senators who voted Yea confirmed every nominee in the package.

  Voted Nay · August 7, 2026 · Roll call 225, 51 to 47

• Pro-lands

  Pearce BLM Director (En Bloc) S.Res.690

  En bloc confirmation of 49 nominees under S.Res.690, including Stevan Pearce as Director of the Bureau of Land Management, the agency managing 245 million acres of public land. As a congressman, Pearce repeatedly backed transferring or selling federal public land. Confirmed 46-43. Senators who voted Yea confirmed every nominee in the package.

  Voted Nay · May 18, 2026 · Roll call 125, 46 to 43

• Pro-lands

  Overturning Boundary Waters Mining Ban H.J.Res.140

  CRA resolution overturning the 20-year mining ban on 225,000 acres of the Superior National Forest upstream of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, the most visited wilderness in America. Became Public Law 119-85.

  Voted Nay · April 16, 2026 · Roll call 84, 50 to 49

• Pro-lands

  Opening Arctic Refuge to Drilling H.J.Res.131

  CRA resolution overturning the 2024 environmental protections for oil and gas leasing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge coastal plain, stripping safeguards from the 1.56-million-acre coastal plain calving grounds of the Porcupine caribou herd

  Voted Nay · December 4, 2025 · Roll call 632, 49 to 45

• Pro-lands

  Overturning Powder River Basin Coal Protections (WY) H.J.Res.130

  CRA resolution nullifying the Bureau of Land Management's 2024 Buffalo Field Office resource management plan amendment in Wyoming, which made approximately 413,000 acres of federal coal unavailable for future leasing in the Powder River Basin.

  Voted Nay · November 20, 2025 · Roll call 623, 51 to 43

• Pro-lands

  Opening Western Arctic to Drilling S.J.Res.80

  CRA resolution nullifying the 2022 management plan for the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, which had closed about half of the 23-million-acre Western Arctic reserve to new oil and gas leasing

  Voted Nay · October 30, 2025 · Roll call 599, 52 to 45

• Pro-lands

  Overturning Central Yukon Protections (AK) H.J.Res.106

  CRA resolution nullifying the Bureau of Land Management's Central Yukon resource management plan in Alaska, which designated 21 areas of critical environmental concern covering approximately 3.6 million acres. The resolution removed a land-plan barrier to the Ambler Road, which would cross Gates of the Arctic National Preserve; the administration had restored the road's federal permits three days earlier. Became Public Law 119-50.

  Voted Nay · October 9, 2025 · Roll call 560, 50 to 46

• Pro-lands

  Overturning Miles City BLM Protections (MT) H.J.Res.104

  CRA resolution rolling back Bureau of Land Management resource management plans for the Miles City Field Office in Montana, opening public lands to expanded industrial use

  Voted Nay · October 8, 2025 · Roll call 549, 52 to 47

• Pro-lands

  Overturning North Dakota BLM Protections H.J.Res.105

  CRA resolution rolling back Bureau of Land Management resource management plans for the North Dakota Field Office, removing protections from public lands across the state

  Voted Nay · October 8, 2025 · Roll call 556, 50 to 45

• Pro-lands

  Boren USDA Under Secretary (En Bloc) S.Res.412

  En bloc confirmation of 108 nominees under S.Res.412, including Michael Boren as USDA Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment, the official directly overseeing the U.S. Forest Service. Confirmed 51-47. Senators who voted Yea confirmed every nominee in the package.

  Voted Nay · October 7, 2025 · Roll call 547, 51 to 47

• Pro-lands

  Nesvik USFWS Director PN25-35

  Confirmed Brian Nesvik as Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the agency responsible for endangered species protections and the National Wildlife Refuge System

  Voted Nay · August 1, 2025 · Roll call 470, 54 to 43

• Pro-lands

  One Big Beautiful Bill H.R.1

  Reconciliation bill mandating four Arctic Refuge Coastal Plain lease sales, five National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska lease sales, a four-million-acre coal leasing mandate, coal royalty rate cuts from 12.5% to 7%, a 250-million-board-foot yearly increase in national forest timber sales through 2034, and rescinding Inflation Reduction Act conservation funding

  Voted Nay · July 1, 2025 · Roll call 372, 50 to 50

• Pro-lands

  Vaden Deputy Agriculture PN12-43

  Confirmed Stephen Vaden as Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, second in command of the department that houses the U.S. Forest Service

  Voted Nay · June 10, 2025 · Roll call 301, 51 to 44

• Pro-lands

  MacGregor Deputy Interior PN13-10

  Confirmed Katharine MacGregor as Deputy Secretary of the Interior, the department's chief operating officer, who led first-term efforts to shrink national monuments and expand drilling on public lands

  Voted Nay · May 14, 2025 · Roll call 250, 54 to 40

• Pro-lands

  Overturning Glen Canyon Safeguards H.J.Res.60

  CRA resolution overturning the National Park Service rule limiting off-road vehicle use in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, reopening those routes to motorized use

  Voted Nay · May 8, 2025 · Roll call 239, 50 to 43

• Pro-lands

  Preventing Public Lands Sell-Off S.Amdt.2107

  Budget resolution amendment (H.Con.Res.14) to bar the use of proceeds from selling federal public land for deficit reduction, the Senate's recorded vote on public land sales ahead of the reconciliation bill

  Voted Yea · April 5, 2025 · Roll call 181, 48 to 51

• Pro-lands

  Reinstating Fired Land Managers S.Amdt.540

  Budget resolution amendment (S.Con.Res.7) creating a reserve fund to reinstate the federal employees fired from the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Forest Service

  Voted Yea · February 20, 2025 · Roll call 68, 48 to 52

• Pro-lands

  Rollins Agriculture Confirmation PN11-12

  Confirmed Brooke Rollins as Secretary of Agriculture, who oversees the U.S. Forest Service and 193 million acres of national forests and grasslands

  Voted Nay · February 13, 2025 · Roll call 53, 72 to 28

• Anti-lands

  Burgum Confirmation PN11-3

  Confirmed Doug Burgum as Secretary of the Interior, who oversees the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, despite his stated agenda to expand oil and gas extraction on public land

  Voted Yea · January 30, 2025 · Roll call 26, 80 to 17

Show more Show all 19 votes

Roll calls and tallies from senate.gov, read October 26, 2026. Which side counts as pro-lands is the scorecard's call on each vote (methodology). Provision ratings: none of these bills has an approved rating yet, so none is named here.

Call Senator Schatz through the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.

Public lands bills Schatz sponsors or cosponsors

In the 119th Congress, Schatz sponsors 0 and cosponsors 1 public lands bill.

• S.4011 Tropical Forest and Coral Reef Conservation Reauthorization Act of 2026

  Cosponsor · Signed on May 14, 2026 · Not yet rated

Bills and cosponsors from the congress.gov API, read September 7, 2026. A bill is rated only when a named person approves a rating that quotes its provision; none of these has one yet.

Schatz's committees

• Senate Committee on Appropriations

  Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies; Department of Defense; Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies; Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies; State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (Ranking Member); Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies

• Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

  Coast Guard, Maritime, and Fisheries; Consumer Protection, Technology, and Data Privacy; Surface Transportation, Freight, Pipelines, and Safety; Telecommunications and Media

• Senate Committee on Foreign Relations

  East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy; Europe and Regional Security Cooperation; Multilateral International Development, Multilateral Institutions, and International Economic, Energy, and Environmental Policy

• Senate Committee on Indian Affairs (Vice Chairman)
• Senate Select Committee on Ethics

Committee seats from unitedstates/congress-legislators, read July 3, 2026.

Public lands in Hawaii

47 federal land units lie in or reach into Hawaii. Parks with a More Than Just Parks guide: Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Haleakala National Park.

Listed park guides first, then by size; the largest 40 of 47 are named.

• Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park 378,724 acres
• Haleakala National Park 33,812 acres
• Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary 874,067 acres
• Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge Research Natural Area 203,582 acres
• Hawaii Volcanoes Wilderness Area 132,783 acres
• Pohakuloa Training Area Defense Department · 132,110 acres
• Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge 48,741 acres
• Pu'U Wa'Awa'A Experimental Tropical Forest Experimental Forest 37,642 acres
• Haleakala Wilderness Area 23,760 acres
• Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam 21,479 acres
• Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge Wilderness Study Area 19,724 acres
• Tropic Regions Test Center Defense Department · 18,508 acres
• Pupukea Paalaa Uka Mil Road Defense Department · 13,257 acres
• Kalaupapa National Historical Park 10,644 acres
• Kahuku Tng Area Defense Department · 9,099 acres
• Laupahoehoe Experimental Tropical Forest Experimental Forest 7,954 acres
• Oahu Forest National Wildlife Refuge Wilderness Study Area 6,755 acres
• Oahu Forest National Wildlife Refuge 4,594 acres
• Makua Mil Reserve Defense Department · 4,380 acres
• Marine Corps Base Hawaii 3,033 acres
• Pacific Missile Range Facility Defense Department · 2,281 acres
• Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge Proposed Wilderness Area 1,662 acres
• Wheeler Army Airfield Defense Department · 1,383 acres
• Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park 1,278 acres
• James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge 1,071 acres
• Marine Corps Trng Area Bellows Defense Department · 1,031 acres
• Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge 919 acres
• Dillingham Military Reservation Defense Department · 650 acres
• CSO Barbers Point HI Defense Department · 615 acres
• Fort Shafter 589 acres
• Aliamanu Military Reservation Defense Department · 532 acres
• National Guard Training Site Keaukaha Military Reservation Defense Department · 504 acres
• Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park 420 acres
• Bellows Defense Department · 411 acres
• Kipapa Ammo Storage Site Defense Department · 405 acres
• Tripler Army Medical Center Defense Department · 357 acres
• National Guard Ft Ruger Defense Department · 322 acres
• Helemano Military Reservation Defense Department · 282 acres
• Huleia National Wildlife Refuge 240 acres
• Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Camp H.M. Smith 221 acres

Show more Show all 40 units

Threatened public lands in Hawaii

• Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument Critical

Federal land units from PAD-US, matched to the state's districts in the More Than Just Parks record, refreshed October 22, 2026; acres are each unit's full size, and units overlap, so they are not added up. Easements on private land are left out. Fires from NIFC; mining claims, leases and timber sales from BLM and Forest Service records; read October 26, 2026.

Who funds Schatz on lands issues

PACs and other committees gave Schatz's campaign $467,697 in the 2025-26 cycle. Across the 4 cycles on record, oil, gas, mining and timber PACs gave nothing, and conservation PACs gave $17,295.

Itemized contributions from committees to the candidate (FEC S4HI00136, FEC H6HI02244), net of refunds, read October 26, 2026. Industry is the giving PAC's industry in the More Than Just Parks record. A contribution says who gave, not why anyone voted as they did.

How Schatz compares

The median senator scores 5%. Schatz scores 95% and ranks #16 (tied) of 98.

More from Hawaii

Sen. Mazie Hirono A+ · Rep. Ed Case A+ · Rep. Jill Tokuda A+

What to ask Schatz

Washington office: 722 Hart Senate Office Building. Phone (202) 224-3934. Write to Schatz · Official site

From Schatz's own record:

• Why did you vote Yea on Burgum Confirmation (PN11-3)?

Offices and phones from the Senate and House member feeds and unitedstates/congress-legislators, checked October 22, 2026.

Questions people ask