Congressional Public Lands Score by More Than Just Parks
Chris Van Hollen
Voted for public lands on every scored vote of the Congress and never missed one.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat from Maryland, earns an A+ on the Congressional Public Lands Score. Of the 19 scored Senate votes, Van Hollen cast 19 for public lands and 0 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. Van Hollen's seat is not on the 2026 ballot.
Every scored vote: 19 of 19 U.S. Senate votes counted
- Pro-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 Nay · August 7, 2026 · Roll call 225, 51 to 47
- Pro-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 Nay · May 18, 2026 · Roll call 125, 46 to 43
- Pro-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 Nay · April 16, 2026 · Roll call 84, 50 to 49
- Pro-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 Nay · December 4, 2025 · Roll call 632, 49 to 45
- Pro-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 Nay · November 20, 2025 · Roll call 623, 51 to 43
- Pro-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 Nay · October 30, 2025 · Roll call 599, 52 to 45
- Pro-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 Nay · October 9, 2025 · Roll call 560, 50 to 46
- Pro-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 Nay · October 8, 2025 · Roll call 549, 52 to 47
- Pro-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 Nay · October 8, 2025 · Roll call 556, 50 to 45
- Pro-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 Nay · October 7, 2025 · Roll call 547, 51 to 47
- Pro-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 Nay · August 1, 2025 · Roll call 470, 54 to 43
- Pro-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 Nay · July 1, 2025 · Roll call 372, 50 to 50
- Pro-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 Nay · June 10, 2025 · Roll call 301, 51 to 44
- Pro-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 Nay · May 14, 2025 · Roll call 250, 54 to 40
- Pro-landsOverturning 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-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 Yea · April 5, 2025 · Roll call 181, 48 to 51
- Pro-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 Yea · February 20, 2025 · Roll call 68, 48 to 52
- Pro-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 Nay · February 13, 2025 · Roll call 53, 72 to 28
- Pro-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 Nay · 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 Van Hollen through the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.
Open the full record in the scorecardPublic lands bills Van Hollen sponsors or cosponsors
In the 119th Congress, Van Hollen sponsors 2 and cosponsors 10 public lands bills.
- S.1408 Chesapeake National Recreation Area Act of 2025
Sponsor · Introduced April 10, 2025 · Not yet rated
- S.791 Justice Thurgood Marshall National Historic Site Establishment Act of 2025
Sponsor · Introduced February 27, 2025 · Not yet rated
- S.Res.837 Designating the week of August 22 through August 30, 2026, as "National Park Week"
Original cosponsor · Signed on August 6, 2026 · Not yet rated
- S.2042 Roadless Area Conservation Act of 2025
Cosponsor · Signed on July 20, 2026 · Not yet rated
- S.3925 Julius Rosenwald and Rosenwald Schools National Historical Park Act
Original cosponsor · Signed on February 25, 2026 · Not yet rated
- S.Res.449 Designating the week beginning on October 12, 2025, as "National Wildlife Refuge Week"
Original cosponsor · Signed on October 9, 2025 · Not yet rated
- S.2179 Canyon’s Law
Original cosponsor · Signed on June 26, 2025 · Not yet rated
- S.1926 Reducing Waste in National Parks Act
Original cosponsor · Signed on June 2, 2025 · Not yet rated
- S.1519 Arctic Refuge Protection Act of 2025
Original cosponsor · Signed on April 29, 2025 · Not yet rated
- S.Res.180 Designating the week of April 19 through April 27, 2025, as "National Park Week"
Original cosponsor · Signed on April 10, 2025 · Not yet rated
- S.950 Save Our Forests Act of 2025
Original cosponsor · Signed on March 11, 2025 · Not yet rated
- S.859 Mining Waste, Fraud, and Abuse Prevention Act of 2025
Original cosponsor · Signed on March 5, 2025 · Not yet rated
Bills and cosponsors from the congress.gov API, read September 24, 2026. A bill is rated only when a named person approves a rating that quotes its provision; none of these has one yet.
Van Hollen's committees
- Senate Committee on Appropriations
Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (Ranking Member); Department of Homeland Security; Department of Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies; Financial Services and General Government; Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies
- Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
Digital Assets; Housing, Transportation, and Community Development; National Security and International Trade and Finance
- Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
Africa and Global Health Policy; East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy; State Department and USAID Management, International Operations, and Bilateral International Development (Ranking Member)
- Senate Committee on the Budget
Committee seats from unitedstates/congress-legislators, read July 3, 2026.
Public lands in Maryland
50 federal land units lie in or reach into Maryland.
Listed by size; the largest 40 of 50 are named.
- Aberdeen Proving Ground Defense Department · 72,170 acres
- Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge 33,656 acres
- Assateague Island National Seashore 27,903 acres
- Patuxent Research Refuge 12,837 acres
- Jennings Randolph Recreation Area 11,973 acres
- Mallows Bay-Potomac National Marine Sanctuary 11,365 acres
- Naval Air Station Patuxent River 6,646 acres
- Catoctin Mountain Park 5,753 acres
- Fort Meade 4,673 acres
- Joint Base Andrews 4,403 acres
- Martin National Wildlife Refuge 4,166 acres
- Glenn Martin National Wildlife Refuge 4,166 acres
- Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge 2,094 acres
- Naval Support Facility Indian Head Defense Department · 1,977 acres
- Antietam National Battlefield 1,972 acres
- Piscataway Park 1,937 acres
- National Capital Parks 1,935 acres
- Naval Research Laboratory – Blossom Point Defense Department · 1,583 acres
- Appalachian National Scenic Trail 1,565 acres
- Monocacy National Battlefield 1,332 acres
- Fort Detrick 1,220 acres
- Greenbelt Park 1,079 acres
- Youghiogheny River Lake 1,030 acres
- Naval Academy North Severn Defense Department · 1,009 acres
- Webster Field Defense Department · 971 acres
- Stump Neck Area Defense Department · 926 acres
- Gambrills MD Defense Department · 835 acres
- Harpers Ferry National Historical Park 798 acres
- National Guard Military Training Area Camp Fretterd Defense Department · 587 acres
- Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park 577 acres
- Lower Potomac River230 550 acres
- Chincoteague Proposed Wilderness Area 412 acres
- Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge 412 acres
- Jennings Randolph Lake Army Corps of Engineers · 411 acres
- Fort Washington Park 344 acres
- Thomas Stone National Historic Site 328 acres
- NRC Solomons Defense Department · 298 acres
- National Guard Military Training Area Gunpowder Military Reservation Defense Department · 254 acres
- Naval Support Activity Bethesda MD Defense Department · 238 acres
- Adelphi Laboratory Center Defense Department · 206 acres
Threatened public lands in Maryland
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 Van Hollen on lands issues
PACs and other committees gave Van Hollen's campaign $89,750 in the 2025-26 cycle. Across the 4 cycles on record, oil, gas, mining and timber PACs gave $1,000, and conservation PACs gave $9,052.
| Cycle | All PACs and committees | Oil and gas | Mining and coal | Timber | Conservation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | $171,000 | none | none | none | $2,500 |
| 2021-22 | $1,457,397 | none | none | $1,000 | $6,552 |
| 2023-24 | $41,509 | none | none | none | none |
| 2025-26 | $89,750 | none | none | none | none |
Itemized contributions from committees to the candidate (FEC H2MD08126, FEC S6MD03441), net of refunds, read September 13, 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 Van Hollen compares
The median senator scores 5%. Van Hollen scores 100% and ranks #1 (tied) of 98.
More from Maryland
Sen. Angela Alsobrooks A · Rep. Andy Harris F · Rep. Johnny Olszewski A+ · Rep. Sarah Elfreth A+ · Rep. Glenn Ivey A · Rep. Steny Hoyer A · Rep. April McClain Delaney A · Rep. Kweisi Mfume A+ · Rep. Jamie Raskin A+
What to ask Van Hollen
Washington office: 730 Hart Senate Office Building. Phone (202) 224-4654. Write to Van Hollen · Official site
Every scored vote Van Hollen cast went for public lands.
Offices and phones from the Senate and House member feeds and unitedstates/congress-legislators, checked October 22, 2026.
Questions people ask
How did Chris Van Hollen vote on One Big Beautiful Bill?
Chris Van Hollen voted Nay 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 Chris Van Hollen up for election in 2026?
No. Chris Van Hollen's Senate seat from Maryland is not on the 2026 ballot. Van Hollen's grade on the 19 scored Senate votes so far is an A+.
What public lands are in Maryland?
50 federal land units lie in or reach into Maryland. The largest are Aberdeen Proving Ground (72,170 acres), Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge (33,656 acres) and Assateague Island National Seashore (27,903 acres).