Congressional Public Lands Score by More Than Just Parks

John Curtis

Republican · U.S. Senate · Utah

Ranked #54 (tied) of 98 scored

Scored under 60%.

Sen. John Curtis, a Republican from Utah, earns an F on the Congressional Public Lands Score. Of the 19 scored Senate votes, Curtis cast 0 for public lands and 17 against, and missed 2. 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. Curtis'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
Missed
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.
Did not vote · 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
Missed
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.
Did not vote · 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 Curtis through the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.

Open the full record in the scorecard

Public lands bills Curtis sponsors or cosponsors

In the 119th Congress, Curtis sponsors 4 and cosponsors 19 public lands bills.

S.2417 Star-Spangled Summit Act of 2025
Sponsor · Introduced July 23, 2025 · Not yet rated
S.1462 Fix Our Forests Act
Sponsor · Introduced April 10, 2025 · Not yet rated
S.1135 Direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study on the feasibility of designating the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, amending the National Trails System Act
Sponsor · Introduced March 26, 2025 · Not yet rated
S.J.Res.30 A resolution to overturn the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area; Motor Vehicles
Sponsor · Introduced March 3, 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.4561 CLOSE THE GAP Act
Cosponsor · Signed on June 9, 2026 · Not yet rated
S.4103 Save Our Sequoias Act
Original cosponsor · Signed on March 16, 2026 · Not yet rated
S.4011 Tropical Forest and Coral Reef Conservation Reauthorization Act of 2026
Original cosponsor · Signed on March 5, 2026 · Not yet rated
S.J.Res.109 A resolution to overturn the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan
Original cosponsor · Signed on March 4, 2026 · Not yet rated
S.3004 Upper Price River Watershed Project Act of 2026
Original cosponsor · Signed on October 14, 2025 · Not yet rated
S.2970 Authorize the use of off-highway vehicles in certain areas of the Capitol Reef National Park, Utah
Original cosponsor · Signed on October 3, 2025 · Not yet rated
S.2968 Outdoor Americans with Disabilities Act
Original cosponsor · Signed on October 3, 2025 · Not yet rated
S.2262 American Voices in Federal Lands Act
Original cosponsor · Signed on July 10, 2025 · Not yet rated
S.1981 Strategic Grazing to Reduce Risk of Wildfire Act
Original cosponsor · Signed on June 5, 2025 · Not yet rated
S.1860 Brian Head Town Land Conveyance Act
Original cosponsor · Signed on May 22, 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.1114 Watershed Protection and Forest Recovery Act of 2025
Original cosponsor · Signed on March 25, 2025 · Not yet rated
S.1061 Forest Service Accountability Act
Original cosponsor · Signed on March 13, 2025 · Not yet rated
S.714 Critical Mineral Consistency Act of 2025
Original cosponsor · Signed on February 25, 2025 · Not yet rated
S.451 Restoring State Mineral Revenues Act
Original cosponsor · Signed on February 6, 2025 · Not yet rated
S.457 Utah Wildfire Research Institute Act of 2025
Original cosponsor · Signed on February 6, 2025 · Not yet rated
S.356 Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act of 2025
Original cosponsor · Signed on February 3, 2025 · Not yet rated
S.220 Ending Presidential Overreach on Public Lands Act
Original cosponsor · Signed on January 23, 2025 · Not yet rated

Bills and cosponsors from the congress.gov API, read October 1, 2026. A bill is rated only when a named person approves a rating that quotes its provision; none of these has one yet.

Curtis's committees

Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works
Chemical Safety, Waste Management, Environmental Justice, and Regulatory Oversight (Chairman); Clean Air, Climate, and Nuclear Innovation and Safety; Transportation and Infrastructure
Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Coast Guard, Maritime, and Fisheries; Consumer Protection, Technology, and Data Privacy; Telecommunications and Media
Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy; Europe and Regional Security Cooperation; Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human Rights, and Global Women's Issues (Chairman)
Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship

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

Public lands in Utah

535 federal land units lie in or reach into Utah. Parks with a More Than Just Parks guide: Canyonlands National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, Zion National Park, Arches National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park.

Listed park guides first, then by size; the largest 40 of 535 are named.

Canyonlands National Park 334,222 acres
Capitol Reef National Park 244,115 acres
Zion National Park 145,304 acres
Arches National Park 87,525 acres
Bryce Canyon National Park 35,984 acres
Fillmore Field Office Bureau of Land Management · 4,420,134 acres
Salt Lake Field Office Bureau of Land Management · 3,284,358 acres
Price Field Office Bureau of Land Management · 2,480,295 acres
Richfield Field Office Bureau of Land Management · 2,127,022 acres
Cedar City Field Office Bureau of Land Management · 2,093,236 acres
Dixie National Forest 1,886,376 acres
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument 1,882,037 acres
Moab Field Office Bureau of Land Management · 1,860,872 acres
Monticello Field Office Bureau of Land Management · 1,787,477 acres
Vernal Field Office Bureau of Land Management · 1,665,188 acres
Bears Ears National Monument 1,491,231 acres
Fishlake National Forest 1,455,530 acres
Kanab Field Office Bureau of Land Management · 1,416,246 acres
Ashley National Forest 1,282,440 acres
Manti-La Sal National Forest 1,243,029 acres
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area 1,192,449 acres
Uintah Valley Indian Reservation Indian Reserve Classification Area Forest Service · 1,046,769 acres
National Public Lands Bureau of Land Management · 1,004,450 acres
Uinta National Forest 878,112 acres
Wasatch National Forest 876,514 acres
West Desert Test Center Defense Department · 800,493 acres
St. George Field Office Bureau of Land Management · 629,088 acres
Utah Test and Training Range Defense Department · 576,461 acres
High Uintas Wilderness 453,863 acres
Cache National Forest 436,704 acres
0419020 Roadless Area 355,684 acres
Ashley Karst National Recreation And Geologic Area National Recreation Area 173,541 acres
Desolation Canyon Wilderness Study Area 162,574 acres
Fiftymile Mountain Wilderness Study Area 160,958 acres
Desolation Canyon Wilderness Area 160,229 acres
Paria-Hackberry Wilderness Study Area 145,916 acres
Wahweap Wilderness Study Area 144,369 acres
North Escalante Canyons/The Gulch Wilderness Study Area 127,558 acres
Zion Wilderness Area 124,379 acres
Lakes Roadless Area 121,967 acres

Fires burning on public land in Utah

Slough Canyon Fire 4,774 acres, 95% contained, updated October 20, 2026

Drilling, mining and logging on record in Utah: 2,985 hardrock mining claims (87,642 acres); 2,003 oil and gas leases (2,174,385 acres); 117 timber sales (31,694 acres); 66 geothermal leases (159,528 acres); 52 coal leases (138,139 acres).

Threatened public lands in Utah

Federal land units from PAD-US, matched to the state's districts in the More Than Just Parks record, refreshed October 20, 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 Curtis on lands issues

PACs and other committees gave Curtis's campaign $456,000 in the 2025-26 cycle. Across the 4 cycles on record, oil, gas, mining and timber PACs gave $311,300, and conservation PACs gave $54,609.

Cycle	All PACs and committees	Oil and gas	Mining and coal	Timber	Conservation
2019-20	$526,662	$40,500	$14,500	none	$2,000
2021-22	$1,408,696	$82,000	$16,000	$9,000	$15,000
2023-24	$2,077,492	$125,300	$7,000	none	$31,109
2025-26	$456,000	$8,500	$2,500	$6,000	$6,500

Itemized contributions from committees to the candidate (FEC H8UT03238, FEC S4UT00282), 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 Curtis compares

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

What to ask Curtis

Washington office: 502 Hart Senate Office Building. Phone (202) 224-5251. Official site

From Curtis's own record:

Why did you vote Yea on Lilly Fish and Wildlife and Parks (En Bloc) (S.Res.817)?
Why did you miss the vote 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 miss the vote 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 John Curtis vote on One Big Beautiful Bill?

John Curtis 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 John Curtis up for election in 2026?

No. John Curtis's Senate seat from Utah is not on the 2026 ballot. Curtis's grade on the 19 scored Senate votes so far is an F.

What public lands are in Utah?

535 federal land units lie in or reach into Utah. The largest are Fillmore Field Office (4,420,134 acres), Salt Lake Field Office (3,284,358 acres) and Price Field Office (2,480,295 acres).