Congressional Public Lands Score by More Than Just Parks

Tim Scott

Republican · U.S. Senate · South Carolina

Ranked #54 (tied) of 98 scored

Scored under 60%.

Sen. Tim Scott, a Republican from South Carolina, earns an F on the Congressional Public Lands Score. Of the 19 scored Senate votes, Scott 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. Scott'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
Missed
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.
Did not vote · 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
Anti-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 Yea · 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

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 Scott through the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.

Open the full record in the scorecard

Public lands bills Scott sponsors or cosponsors

In the 119th Congress, Scott sponsors 0 and cosponsors 4 public lands bills.

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.2644 Camden National Battlefield Park Study Act
Original cosponsor · Signed on August 1, 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.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 24, 2026. A bill is rated only when a named person approves a rating that quotes its provision; none of these has one yet.

Scott's committees

Senate Committee on Finance
Energy, Natural Resources, and Infrastructure; Health Care; International Trade, Customs, and Global Competitiveness
Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs (Chairman)
Digital Assets (Ex Officio); Economic Policy (Ex Officio); Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection (Ex Officio); Housing, Transportation, and Community Development (Ex Officio); National Security and International Trade and Finance (Ex Officio); Securities, Insurance, and Investment (Ex Officio)
Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Education and the American Family; Employment and Workplace Safety
Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship

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

Public lands in South Carolina

59 federal land units lie in or reach into South Carolina. The park with a More Than Just Parks guide: Congaree National Park.

Listed park guides first, then by size; the largest 40 of 59 are named.

Congaree National Park 26,442 acres
Sumter National Forest 374,485 acres
Francis Marion National Forest 263,909 acres
Savannah River Site 195,398 acres
Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge 61,286 acres
Francis Marion National Wildlife Refuge 53,207 acres
Hartwell Recreation Area 52,107 acres
Fort Jackson 51,356 acres
Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge 45,917 acres
J. Strom Thurmond Recreation Area 44,111 acres
Hartwell Lake Army Corps of Engineers · 38,223 acres
Waccamaw National Wildlife Refuge 35,223 acres
Savannah National Wildlife Refuge 30,721 acres
Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge.Wilderness Area 29,716 acres
Richard B. Russell Recreation Area 27,763 acres
J. Strom Thurmond Lake Army Corps of Engineers · 22,446 acres
Joint Base Charleston 20,359 acres
Congaree National Park Wilderness Area 14,976 acres
Richard B. Russell Lake Army Corps of Engineers · 13,070 acres
Poinsett Electronic Combat Range Defense Department · 12,526 acres
Ernest F. Hollings Ace Basin National Wildlife Refuge 12,224 acres
John C. Calhoun Experimental Forest 10,566 acres
Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island Defense Department · 10,183 acres
Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort Defense Department · 7,506 acres
Santee Experimental Forest 6,156 acres
Little Wambaw Swamp Wilderness 4,967 acres
Wambaw Swamp Wilderness 4,755 acres
Santee National Wildlife Refuge 4,530 acres
Waccamaw National Wildlife Refuge.Wilderness Study Area 4,495 acres
Kings Mountain National Military Park 4,111 acres
Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge 4,052 acres
Shaw Air Force Base 3,394 acres
Bee Cove Roadless Area 3,025 acres
Ellicott Rock Wilderness 2,909 acres
McEntire Joint National Guard Base 2,438 acres
Big Mountain Roadless Area 2,319 acres
Joint Base Charleston North Field SBML 2,245 acres
Hell Hole Bay Wilderness 2,122 acres
Wambaw Creek Wilderness 1,832 acres
Chattooga, North Carolina, South Carolina And Georgia Wild and Scenic River 1,059 acres

Drilling, mining and logging on record in South Carolina: 1,064 timber sales (41,478 acres).

Threatened public lands in South Carolina

Congaree National Park

Federal land units from PAD-US, matched to the state's districts in the More Than Just Parks record, refreshed October 26, 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 Scott on lands issues

PACs and other committees gave Scott's campaign $225,300 in the 2025-26 cycle. Across the 4 cycles on record, oil, gas, mining and timber PACs gave $138,832, and conservation PACs gave $2,000.

Cycle	All PACs and committees	Oil and gas	Mining and coal	Timber	Conservation
2019-20	$784,199	$1,000	none	$5,000	$2,000
2021-22	$3,138,299	$78,832	none	$30,500	none
2023-24	$630,870	$5,000	none	$5,000	none
2025-26	$225,300	none	none	$13,500	none

Itemized contributions from committees to the candidate (FEC H0SC01279, FEC S4SC00240), 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 Scott compares

The median senator scores 5%. Scott scores 0% and ranks #54 (tied) of 98.

More from South Carolina

Sen. Darline Graham F · Rep. Nancy Mace F · Rep. Joe Wilson F · Rep. Sheri Biggs F · Rep. William Timmons F · Rep. Ralph Norman F · Rep. James Clyburn A · Rep. Russell Fry F

What to ask Scott

Washington office: 104 Hart Senate Office Building. Phone (202) 224-6121. Write to Scott · Official site

From Scott'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 miss the vote 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 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)?

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

Questions people ask

How did Tim Scott vote on One Big Beautiful Bill?

Tim Scott 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 Tim Scott up for election in 2026?

No. Tim Scott's Senate seat from South Carolina is not on the 2026 ballot. Scott's grade on the 19 scored Senate votes so far is an F.

What public lands are in South Carolina?

59 federal land units lie in or reach into South Carolina. The largest are Sumter National Forest (374,485 acres), Francis Marion National Forest (263,909 acres) and Savannah River Site (195,398 acres).