Congressional Public Lands Score by More Than Just Parks

Scored under 60%.

Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, earns an F on the Congressional Public Lands Score. Of the 19 scored Senate votes, Paul cast 1 for public lands and 18 against. The two closest: Nay 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. Paul's seat is not on the 2026 ballot.

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

• Anti-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 Yea · August 7, 2026 · Roll call 225, 51 to 47

• Anti-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 Yea · May 18, 2026 · Roll call 125, 46 to 43

• Anti-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 Yea · April 16, 2026 · Roll call 84, 50 to 49

• Anti-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 Yea · December 4, 2025 · Roll call 632, 49 to 45

• Anti-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 Yea · November 20, 2025 · Roll call 623, 51 to 43

• Anti-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 Yea · October 30, 2025 · Roll call 599, 52 to 45

• Anti-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 Yea · October 9, 2025 · Roll call 560, 50 to 46

• Anti-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 Yea · October 8, 2025 · Roll call 549, 52 to 47

• Anti-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 Yea · October 8, 2025 · Roll call 556, 50 to 45

• Anti-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 Yea · October 7, 2025 · Roll call 547, 51 to 47

• Anti-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 Yea · 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

• Anti-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 Yea · June 10, 2025 · Roll call 301, 51 to 44

• Anti-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 Yea · May 14, 2025 · Roll call 250, 54 to 40

• Anti-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 Yea · May 8, 2025 · Roll call 239, 50 to 43

• Anti-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 Nay · April 5, 2025 · Roll call 181, 48 to 51

• Anti-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 Nay · February 20, 2025 · Roll call 68, 48 to 52

• Anti-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 Yea · 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 Paul through the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.

Public lands bills Paul sponsors or cosponsors

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

• S.J.Res.12 A resolution to overturn the Waste Emissions Charge for Petroleum and Natural Gas Systems: Procedures for Facilitating Compliance, Including Netting and Exemptions

  Original cosponsor · Signed on February 4, 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.

Paul's committees

• Senate Committee on Foreign Relations

  Africa and Global Health Policy; Europe and Regional Security Cooperation; Multilateral International Development, Multilateral Institutions, and International Economic, Energy, and Environmental Policy; State Department and USAID Management, International Operations, and Bilateral International Development

• Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

  Education and the American Family; Primary Health and Retirement Security

• Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (Chairman)

  Border Management, Federal Workforce, and Regulatory Affairs (Ex Officio); Disaster Management, District of Columbia, and Census (Ex Officio); Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (Ex Officio)

• Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship

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

Public lands in Kentucky

76 federal land units lie in or reach into Kentucky. The park with a More Than Just Parks guide: Mammoth Cave National Park.

Listed park guides first, then by size; the largest 40 of 76 are named.

• Mammoth Cave National Park 50,624 acres
• Daniel Boone National Forest 563,866 acres
• Redbird Purchase Unit Forest Service · 146,434 acres
• Fort Knox 109,090 acres
• Land Between The Lakes National Recreation Area 107,587 acres
• Land Between the Lakes Other Forest Service · 107,548 acres
• Cumberland Recreation Area 90,149 acres
• Barkley Recreation Area 52,513 acres
• Lake Cumberland Army Corps of Engineers · 46,069 acres
• Fort Campbell 37,150 acres
• Lake Barkley Army Corps of Engineers · 36,798 acres
• Green Rv Recreation Area 32,392 acres
• Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area 30,307 acres
• Barren River Recreation Area 20,297 acres
• Yatesville Recreation Area 20,111 acres
• Fishtrap Recreation Area 15,592 acres
• Blue Grass Army Depot Defense Department · 14,578 acres
• Nolin Rv Recreation Area 13,303 acres
• Paintsville Recreation Area 13,186 acres
• Clifty Wilderness 12,551 acres
• Grayson Recreation Area 11,668 acres
• National Guard WH Ford Regional Tng Ctr Defense Department · 11,242 acres
• Barren River Lake 9,795 acres
• Clarks River National Wildlife Refuge 9,383 acres
• Dale Hollow Recreation Area 9,182 acres
• Green River Lake 8,406 acres
• Cave Run Lake Army Corps of Engineers · 8,166 acres
• Laurel River Lake 5,728 acres
• Nolin River Lake 5,727 acres
• Rough River Lake 4,956 acres
• Dewey Recreation Area 4,902 acres
• Beaver Creek Wilderness 4,854 acres
• Dale Hollow Lake Army Corps of Engineers · 4,435 acres
• Kentucky Lake Wildlife Management Area 3,856 acres
• Carr Creek Recreation Area 3,847 acres
• Red, Kentucky Wild and Scenic River 3,337 acres
• Taylorsville Lake Army Corps of Engineers · 2,939 acres
• Wolfpen Roadless Area 2,835 acres
• Kentucky Reservoir Tennessee Valley Authority · 2,385 acres
• Green River National Wildlife Refuge And Conservation Partnership Area 2,063 acres

Show more Show all 40 units

Drilling, mining and logging on record in Kentucky: 77 timber sales (3,897 acres); 17 oil and gas leases (10,606 acres).

Threatened public lands in Kentucky

• Daniel Boone National Forest Developing

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 Paul on lands issues

PACs and other committees gave Paul's campaign $93,645 in the 2025-26 cycle. Across the 4 cycles on record, oil, gas, mining and timber PACs gave $21,000, and conservation PACs gave nothing.

Itemized contributions from committees to the candidate (FEC S0KY00156), 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 Paul compares

The median senator scores 5%. Paul scores 5% and ranks #50 (tied) of 98.

More from Kentucky

Sen. Mitch McConnell F · Rep. James Comer F · Rep. Brett Guthrie F · Rep. Morgan McGarvey A+ · Rep. Thomas Massie F · Rep. Harold Rogers F · Rep. Andy Barr F

What to ask Paul

Washington office: 295 Russell Senate Office Building. Phone (202) 224-4343. Write to Paul · Official site

From Paul'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 Vaden Deputy Agriculture (PN12-43)?
• Why did you vote Yea on MacGregor Deputy Interior (PN13-10)?
• Why did you vote Yea 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)?

Show more Show all 18 questions

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

Questions people ask