Congressional Public Lands Score by More Than Just Parks
Kirsten Gillibrand
Scored 90% or higher.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat from New York, earns an A on the Congressional Public Lands Score. Of the 19 scored Senate votes, Gillibrand 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. Gillibrand'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
- 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 Gillibrand through the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.
Open the full record in the scorecardPublic lands bills Gillibrand sponsors or cosponsors
In the 119th Congress, Gillibrand sponsors 3 and cosponsors 3 public lands bills.
- S.1288 Finger Lakes National Heritage Area Act
Sponsor · Introduced April 3, 2025 · Not yet rated
- S.1050 Forest Conservation Easement Program Act of 2025
Sponsor · Introduced March 13, 2025 · Not yet rated
- S.432 Fort Ontario Holocaust Refugee Shelter National Historical Park Establishment Act
Sponsor · Introduced February 5, 2025 · Not yet rated
- S.3911 Designate the Pride flag as an authorized flag eligible for display at units of the National Park System, to express the sense of the Senate that the Pride flag should be on display at the Stonewall National Monument in the State of New York
Original cosponsor · Signed on February 25, 2026 · Not yet rated
- S.3490 National Historical Park and National Historic Landmark Establishment and Boundary Adjustments Act of 2025
Original cosponsor · Signed on December 16, 2025 · Not yet rated
- S.2042 Roadless Area Conservation Act of 2025
Cosponsor · Signed on September 8, 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.
Gillibrand's committees
- Senate Committee on Appropriations
Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies; Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies; Department of Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies; Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies; Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (Ranking Member)
- Senate Committee on Armed Services
Cybersecurity; Emerging Threats and Capabilities; Strategic Forces
- Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
- Senate Special Committee on Aging (Ranking Member)
Committee seats from unitedstates/congress-legislators, read July 3, 2026.
Public lands in New York
55 federal land units lie in or reach into New York.
Listed by size; the largest 40 of 55 are named.
- Fort Drum 108,892 acres
- Gateway National Recreation Area 22,547 acres
- Fire Island National Seashore 19,658 acres
- Finger Lakes National Forest 16,389 acres
- West Point Military Reservation Defense Department · 15,857 acres
- Allegheny Reservoir Army Corps of Engineers · 11,356 acres
- Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge 10,803 acres
- Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge 10,056 acres
- Appalachian National Scenic Trail 8,085 acres
- Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory Kenneth A Kesselri* Energy Department · 3,916 acres
- Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge 3,407 acres
- Congressman Lester Wolff Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge 3,365 acres
- Mount Morris Reservoir Army Corps of Engineers · 3,088 acres
- Two Rivers Reservoir 3,088 acres
- Saratoga National Historical Park 3,020 acres
- Wertheim National Wildlife Refuge 2,671 acres
- Montezuma Marshes Nnl Fish and Wildlife Service · 2,153 acres
- National Guard Camp Smith Tng Site Defense Department · 1,573 acres
- Otis Pike Fire Island High Dune Wilderness Area 1,205 acres
- Whitney Point Lake Army Corps of Engineers · 1,072 acres
- National Guard Youngstown Training Site Defense Department · 858 acres
- Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site 755 acres
- Niagara Falls Defense Department · 631 acres
- Shawangunk Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge 598 acres
- Hancock Field Defense Department · 356 acres
- Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge 310 acres
- Stewart International Airport Defense Department · 260 acres
- Syracuse Marine Corps Reserve Center Defense Department · 255 acres
- Seatuck National Wildlife Refuge 211 acres
- Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site 211 acres
- East Sidney Lake Army Corps of Engineers · 205 acres
- Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site 177 acres
- Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory (US Dept of Energy) Energy Department · 177 acres
- Elizabeth Alexandra Morton National Wildlife Refuge 177 acres
- Great Thicket National Wildlife Refuge 144 acres
- Almond Lake Army Corps of Engineers · 138 acres
- Watervliet Arsenal 133 acres
- Schenectady Air National Guard Municipal Airport Defense Department · 126 acres
- Fort Hamilton 120 acres
- Rome Research Laboratory Defense Department · 104 acres
Drilling, mining and logging on record in New York: 11 timber sales (146 acres); 3 oil and gas leases (852 acres).
None of the places on the threatened public lands map is in New York.
Federal land units from PAD-US, matched to the state's districts in the More Than Just Parks record, refreshed October 25, 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 Gillibrand on lands issues
PACs and other committees gave Gillibrand's campaign $311,818 in the 2025-26 cycle. Across the 4 cycles on record, oil, gas, mining and timber PACs gave nothing, and conservation PACs gave $1,766.
| Cycle | All PACs and committees | Oil and gas | Mining and coal | Timber | Conservation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | -$7,300 | none | none | none | -$5,000 |
| 2021-22 | $150,950 | none | none | none | $50 |
| 2023-24 | $1,313,540 | none | none | none | $6,716 |
| 2025-26 | $311,818 | none | none | none | none |
Itemized contributions from committees to the candidate (FEC H6NY20167, FEC S0NY00410), 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 Gillibrand compares
The median senator scores 5%. Gillibrand scores 95% and ranks #16 (tied) of 98.
More from New York
Sen. Charles Schumer A+ · Rep. Nick LaLota F · Rep. Andrew Garbarino F · Rep. Thomas Suozzi A · Rep. Laura Gillen A · Rep. Gregory Meeks A+ · Rep. Grace Meng A+ · Rep. Nydia Velázquez A · Rep. Hakeem Jeffries A+ · Rep. Yvette Clarke A+ · Rep. Daniel Goldman B · Rep. Nicole Malliotakis F · Rep. Jerrold Nadler A+ · Rep. Adriano Espaillat A+ · Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez A+ · Rep. Ritchie Torres A · Rep. George Latimer A+ · Rep. Michael Lawler F · Rep. Patrick Ryan A+ · Rep. Josh Riley A · Rep. Paul Tonko A+ · Rep. Elise Stefanik F · Rep. John Mannion B · Rep. Nicholas Langworthy F · Rep. Claudia Tenney F · Rep. Joseph Morelle A+ · Rep. Timothy Kennedy A+
What to ask Gillibrand
Washington office: 478 Russell Senate Office Building. Phone (202) 224-4451. Write to Gillibrand · Official site
From Gillibrand'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
How did Kirsten Gillibrand vote on One Big Beautiful Bill?
Kirsten Gillibrand 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 Kirsten Gillibrand up for election in 2026?
No. Kirsten Gillibrand's Senate seat from New York is not on the 2026 ballot. Gillibrand's grade on the 19 scored Senate votes so far is an A.
What public lands are in New York?
55 federal land units lie in or reach into New York. The largest are Fort Drum (108,892 acres), Gateway National Recreation Area (22,547 acres) and Fire Island National Seashore (19,658 acres).