Congressional Public Lands Score by More Than Just Parks
Jim Banks
Scored under 60%.
Sen. Jim Banks, a Republican from Indiana, earns an F on the Congressional Public Lands Score. Of the 19 scored Senate votes, Banks cast 0 for public lands and 18 against, and missed 1. The two closest: Yea on One Big Beautiful Bill (H.R.1), 50 to 50, and Yea on Overturning Boundary Waters Mining Ban (H.J.Res.140), 50 to 49. Banks's seat is not on the 2026 ballot.
Every scored vote: 19 of 19 U.S. Senate votes counted
- Anti-landsLilly 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 Yea · August 7, 2026 · Roll call 225, 51 to 47
- Anti-landsPearce 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 Yea · May 18, 2026 · Roll call 125, 46 to 43
- Anti-landsOverturning 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 Yea · April 16, 2026 · Roll call 84, 50 to 49
- Anti-landsOpening 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 Yea · December 4, 2025 · Roll call 632, 49 to 45
- Anti-landsOverturning 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 Yea · November 20, 2025 · Roll call 623, 51 to 43
- Anti-landsOpening 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 Yea · October 30, 2025 · Roll call 599, 52 to 45
- Anti-landsOverturning 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 Yea · October 9, 2025 · Roll call 560, 50 to 46
- Anti-landsOverturning 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 Yea · October 8, 2025 · Roll call 549, 52 to 47
- Anti-landsOverturning 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 Yea · October 8, 2025 · Roll call 556, 50 to 45
- Anti-landsBoren 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 Yea · October 7, 2025 · Roll call 547, 51 to 47
- Anti-landsNesvik 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 Yea · August 1, 2025 · Roll call 470, 54 to 43
- Anti-landsOne 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 Yea · July 1, 2025 · Roll call 372, 50 to 50
- Anti-landsVaden 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 Yea · June 10, 2025 · Roll call 301, 51 to 44
- Anti-landsMacGregor 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 Yea · May 14, 2025 · Roll call 250, 54 to 40
- MissedOverturning 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
Did not vote · May 8, 2025 · Roll call 239, 50 to 43
- Anti-landsPreventing 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 Nay · April 5, 2025 · Roll call 181, 48 to 51
- Anti-landsReinstating 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 Nay · February 20, 2025 · Roll call 68, 48 to 52
- Anti-landsRollins 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 Yea · February 13, 2025 · Roll call 53, 72 to 28
- Anti-landsBurgum 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
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 Banks through the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.
Open the full record in the scorecardPublic lands bills Banks sponsors or cosponsors
In the 119th Congress, Banks sponsors 0 and cosponsors 2 public lands bills.
- S.3501 Calumet National Heritage Area Act
Original cosponsor · Signed on December 16, 2025 · Not yet rated
- S.J.Res.4 A resolution to overturn the Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Consumer Gas-fired Instantaneous Water Heaters
Original cosponsor · Signed on January 23, 2025 · 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.
Banks's committees
- Senate Committee on Armed Services
Personnel; Seapower; Strategic Forces
- Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
Economic Policy; National Security and International Trade and Finance; Securities, Insurance, and Investment
- Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Education and the American Family; Employment and Workplace Safety (Chairman); Primary Health and Retirement Security
- Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs
Committee seats from unitedstates/congress-legislators, read July 3, 2026.
Public lands in Indiana
31 federal land units lie in or reach into Indiana. The park with a More Than Just Parks guide: Indiana Dunes National Park.
Listed park guides first, then by size.
- Indiana Dunes National Park 10,617 acres
- Hoosier National Forest 204,315 acres
- Naval Support Activity Crane Defense Department · 61,992 acres
- Jefferson Proving Ground Defense Department · 52,787 acres
- National Guard Camp Atterbury Defense Department · 35,009 acres
- Monroe Recreation Area 25,720 acres
- Brookville Recreation Area 17,185 acres
- Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore 15,909 acres
- Mississinewa Recreation Area 15,067 acres
- Charles C. Deam Wilderness 12,538 acres
- Monroe Lake Army Corps of Engineers · 10,673 acres
- Patoka River National Wildlife Refuge 9,957 acres
- Patoka Lake Army Corps of Engineers · 8,751 acres
- J. Edward Roush Recreation Area 8,533 acres
- Mogan Ridge Roadless Area 8,435 acres
- Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge 7,826 acres
- Brookville Lake Army Corps of Engineers · 5,121 acres
- Cecil M. Harden Recreation Area 4,153 acres
- Mississinewa Lake Army Corps of Engineers · 3,451 acres
- Salamonie Lake Army Corps of Engineers · 2,830 acres
- Grissom Air Reserve Base 2,713 acres
- Cecil M. Hardin Lake Army Corps of Engineers · 2,013 acres
- Indiana Army Ammunition Plant Defense Department · 1,538 acres
- Cagles Mill Lake Army Corps of Engineers · 1,463 acres
- National Guard Muscatatuck Urban Training Center Defense Department · 961 acres
- J. Edward Roush Lake Army Corps of Engineers · 849 acres
- Paoli Experimental Forest 606 acres
- National Guard Knightstown Defense Department · 388 acres
- Farm Service Agency Interest Of In Fish and Wildlife Service · 231 acres
- Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial 184 acres
- George Rogers Clark National Historical Park 24 acres
Drilling, mining and logging on record in Indiana: 133 timber sales (1,989 acres).
Threatened public lands in Indiana
Federal land units from PAD-US, matched to the state's districts in the More Than Just Parks record, refreshed October 23, 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 Banks on lands issues
PACs and other committees gave Banks's campaign $597,626 in the 2025-26 cycle. Across the 4 cycles on record, oil, gas, mining and timber PACs gave $121,500, and conservation PACs gave nothing.
| Cycle | All PACs and committees | Oil and gas | Mining and coal | Timber | Conservation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | $670,819 | $17,500 | $1,000 | $3,000 | none |
| 2021-22 | $731,047 | $29,500 | $2,500 | none | none |
| 2023-24 | $1,693,595 | $49,500 | $5,000 | $4,500 | none |
| 2025-26 | $597,626 | none | $7,500 | $1,500 | none |
Itemized contributions from committees to the candidate (FEC H6IN03229, FEC S4IN00196), 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 Banks compares
The median senator scores 5%. Banks scores 0% and ranks #54 (tied) of 98.
More from Indiana
Sen. Todd Young F · Rep. Frank Mrvan A · Rep. Rudy Yakym F · Rep. Marlin Stutzman F · Rep. James Baird F · Rep. Victoria Spartz F · Rep. Jefferson Shreve F · Rep. André Carson A+ · Rep. Mark Messmer F · Rep. Erin Houchin F
What to ask Banks
Washington office: 303 Hart Senate Office Building. Phone (202) 224-4814. Official site
From Banks's own record:
- Why did you vote Yea on Lilly Fish and Wildlife and Parks (En Bloc) (S.Res.817)?
- Why did you vote Yea on Pearce BLM Director (En Bloc) (S.Res.690)?
- Why did you vote Yea on Overturning Boundary Waters Mining Ban (H.J.Res.140)?
- Why did you vote Yea on Opening Arctic Refuge to Drilling (H.J.Res.131)?
- Why did you vote Yea on Overturning Powder River Basin Coal Protections (WY) (H.J.Res.130)?
- Why did you vote Yea on Opening Western Arctic to Drilling (S.J.Res.80)?
- Why did you vote Yea on Overturning Central Yukon Protections (AK) (H.J.Res.106)?
- Why did you vote Yea on Overturning Miles City BLM Protections (MT) (H.J.Res.104)?
- Why did you vote Yea on Overturning North Dakota BLM Protections (H.J.Res.105)?
- Why did you vote Yea on Boren USDA Under Secretary (En Bloc) (S.Res.412)?
- Why did you vote Yea on Nesvik USFWS Director (PN25-35)?
- Why did you vote Yea on One Big Beautiful Bill (H.R.1)?
- Why did you vote Yea on Vaden Deputy Agriculture (PN12-43)?
- Why did you vote Yea on MacGregor Deputy Interior (PN13-10)?
- Why did you miss the vote on Overturning Glen Canyon Safeguards (H.J.Res.60)?
- Why did you vote Nay on Preventing Public Lands Sell-Off (S.Amdt.2107)?
- Why did you vote Nay on Reinstating Fired Land Managers (S.Amdt.540)?
- Why did you vote Yea on Rollins Agriculture Confirmation (PN11-12)?
- 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
How did Jim Banks vote on One Big Beautiful Bill?
Jim Banks voted Yea on One Big Beautiful Bill (H.R.1) on July 1, 2025. The Senate vote was 50 to 50, and the scorecard counts Nay as the vote for public lands.
Is Jim Banks up for election in 2026?
No. Jim Banks's Senate seat from Indiana is not on the 2026 ballot. Banks's grade on the 19 scored Senate votes so far is an F.
What public lands are in Indiana?
31 federal land units lie in or reach into Indiana. The largest are Hoosier National Forest (204,315 acres), Naval Support Activity Crane (61,992 acres) and Jefferson Proving Ground (52,787 acres).