Veterans Launch Call for Moratorium on Data Centers on Public Lands

After historic midterms, veterans urge Interior Department & 120th Congress to pause new data center development on America's public lands

WASHINGTON, Nov. 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- As the country marks Veterans Day and reflects on a historic midterm election, veterans are stepping forward to defend the public lands they served to protect. Today, Veterans for Public Lands (VFPL) is launching a national initiative with a call for an immediate moratorium on new data center development on public lands.

The election sent at least 69 veterans to Congress through new and retained seats, including a historic number of women veterans. Voters also delivered a decisive message on data center development: in 43 of 44 local ballot contests, the result favored restricting or blocking projects by wide margins. At the state level, Maine voters approved three binding, temporary data-center moratoriums, while on the local levels, voters in Bloomington, Illinois, backed a call for a moratorium by 78%.

VFPL is calling on the Secretary of the Interior to immediately pause new data center development on federal public lands while the government establishes safeguards for public input, environmental review, water and energy use, and Tribal consultation. This comes as a proposed data center on federal public lands in southern Nevada was recently sent back to square one after legal challenges overturned its approval for inadequate environmental review, underscoring the severe risks these developments pose to public lands, water resources, and energy infrastructure.

VFPL will also urge the 120th Congress to make this an early priority, calling on lawmakers to advance legislation in the first 100 days that establishes a moratorium on new data center development on federal public lands and requires meaningful public input, environmental review, and Tribal consultation.

"Americans may disagree on many issues, but protecting the public lands that belong to all of us is a place where we find common ground," said VFPL Chair U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Buchanan (Ret.). "On Veterans Day, we're stepping up to defend those places from being exploited and permanently changed without the public's consent."

That common ground extends across party lines. A 2026 University of Pennsylvania Annenberg survey found that majorities of Democrats, Republicans and independents oppose new data centers in their communities: 69% of Democrats, 54% of Republicans and 53% of independents.

Public lands face pressure from privatization, industrial development, rollbacks and reduced capacity to manage and protect them. VFPL's campaign focused on data centers reflects broad public concern about the effects of large facilities on land, water, energy costs, access, and nearby communities.

"As a combat veteran and whitewater rafting guide, I've seen how much people depend on our rivers and public lands," said Brad Noone, Veterans for Public Lands Program Manager. "Now some of the world's richest tech companies want to use our shared places - and our water and power - to build data centers for private profit. Veterans are standing with our communities to tell these companies: our public lands are not yours to take."

Military service and public land stewardship have long been connected. For many veterans, these places are a source of community, healing, and renewed purpose. Public lands also support many veterans' livelihoods, from careers in conservation and land management to outdoor recreation. VFPL equips veterans and military families to speak out, lead and serve as stewards of the lands and waters they served to defend.

Veterans and military families can learn how to get involved and take action at veteransforpubliclands.org/take-action.

About Veterans for Public Lands

Veterans for Public Lands unites to defend the public lands and waters we served to protect. We equip our community to speak out, lead, and show up whenever our shared wild spaces are under threat.

Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE Veterans for Public Lands