public lands

Western Senators Push Landmark Public Lands Bill

By • Jun 2, 2020
Broken pavement on a path at Yellowstone National Park.
Jacob W. Frank / National Park Service

A bill to permanently fund conservation efforts and reduce maintenance backlogs across public lands will soon be up for a vote in the U.S. Senate.

As BLM Expedites Oil And Gas Drilling Permits, Many Go Unused, Watchdog Finds

By • Apr 23, 2020
An image of a single oil derrick situated in the open spaces and mountains of Utah.
Bureau of Land Management

A federal report out this week shows that the Bureau of Land Management has more than halved the time spent reviewing oil and gas drilling permits, a reflection of how the agency's priorities have shifted under the Trump administration.

With New Name, Washoe Co. Lands Bill Back In Discussion

By & • Mar 13, 2020
A landscape photo with a paved road on the left side and gravel, sagebrush and hills on the right side.
Lucia Starbuck / KUNR

The Truckee Meadows Public Land Management Act, formerly known as the Washoe County Lands Bill, is back before Congress. It would allow federal land in Nevada to be sold to local government for development and conservation projects. The proposal has received support from the cities of Reno and Sparks, as well as Washoe County, but it has also faced public criticism.

GAO: Taxpayers On The Hook For Cleaning Up The West’s Abandoned Mines

By • Mar 13, 2020

A new government watchdog report published Wednesday says taxpayers are shouldering the burden of cleaning up the nation’s thousands of abandoned hardrock mines on public lands.

BLM Move Prompts About Half Of D.C. Staff To Quit

By • Mar 6, 2020

The Bureau of Land Management’s plan to move its headquarters out west is costing the agency around half the employees asked to make the move, according to a new report from federal watchdog Government Accountability Office.


Public Lands Give Refuge To Endangered Species, Study Shows

By • Mar 6, 2020

Federal lands are much better at reducing habitat loss and protecting endangered species than private lands, according to a new study out this week by researchers at Tufts University and the conservation group Defenders of Wildlife.

Budget Watchdog Calls For Hiking Oil And Gas Royalty Rates On Federal Lands

By • Feb 25, 2020
An image of oil drills on public lands.
Bureau of Land Management

On the 100th anniversary of the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, the nonpartisan group Taxpayers for Common Sense published a report Tuesday calling for an increase in the royalty rate on publicly owned oil and gas.

Democratic House Committee Chairman Can Now Subpoena Interior Over Controversial Public Lands Moves

By • Feb 14, 2020

Listen to this story here.

After congressional Democrats voted this week to give one of their own the power to subpoena the Trump administration, U.S. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt dismissed the move as a “witch hunt.”

Trump Administration Releases Final Plans For Grand Staircase, Bears Ears National Monuments

By , & • Feb 6, 2020

Updated 2:24 p.m. MST 2/6/2020

In the face of ongoing litigation from tribes and conservation groups, the Trump administration has finalized plans to expand drilling, mining and grazing across southern Utah — including within the former bounds of Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments. 

Proposed Law Would Make It Easier To Remove Livestock From Public Lands

By • Feb 3, 2020

New legislation introduced in the U.S. House Thursday would make it easier for conservation groups to remove cattle and sheep from federal lands. 

Bureau Of Land Management Plans To 'Modernize' Grazing On Public Lands

By • Jan 28, 2020

The Trump administration has spent the past month announcing sweeping changes that could benefit ranchers on public lands, including a proposal to overhaul grazing regulations for the first time in 25 years. 

'Huge Win' For Ranchers As Trump Targets Bedrock Environmental Law

By • Jan 10, 2020

Many ranchers are applauding President Donald Trump after he announced an overhaul of the nation’s bedrock environmental law on Thursday. 

District Court Will Hear Public Lands Fracking Lawsuit In January

By • Dec 23, 2019

After a long hiatus, a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s 2017 decision to rescind regulations on hydraulic fracturing on public lands is moving forward. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California is scheduled to hear oral arguments in January after prominent conservation groups, including the Sierra Club, filed suit in 2018.

Harvesting A Christmas Tree And A Story In A Wyoming Forest

By • Dec 20, 2019

On a recent sunny afternoon, I'm loading up my Subaru before heading out to the Snowy Range Mountains in southern Wyoming to cut down a Christmas tree.

Wildlife Refuge Or Military Bombing Range? Congress To Decide Fate Of Federal Land In Nevada

By • Dec 4, 2019
A look at installations within the Nevada Test and Training Range, as seen from U.S. Highway 95 in Nevada.
Noah Glick

The U.S. military is asking Congress for control over more public land in Nevada, and much of that could come at the expense of the Desert National Wildlife Refuge, the largest wildlife refuge outside of Alaska.

That has the state of Nevada, environmentalists and tribes all stepping up to condemn the proposal.

The Next Yellowstone: How Big Money Is Building A New Kind Of National Park

By • Oct 28, 2019

This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting

The Promise And Peril Of Environmental Philanthropy | A Privately-Funded Park For The People | Save The Cowboy, Stop The American Prairie Reserve | A Hunter’s Paradise | The Buffalo Is A Symbol of God

The northern Great Plains aren’t much to look at. It’s the drab, boring part of a cross-country interstate drive between Seattle and Chicago. 

No trees in sight. No water. But Sean Gerrity, founder of American Prairie Reserve, has always seen something more out here. 

BLM Move Pushes Forward Amid Controversy, Congressional Opposition

By • Oct 3, 2019
Map of federal public lands in the West. BLM lands shown in yellow. The red pin marks Grand Junction, Colorado.
Headwaters Economics / headwaterseconomics.org

The Bureau of Land Management is moving more staff and—perhaps most significantly—its headquarters to the Mountain West.

Depending on who you ask, relocating the BLM’s headquarters from Washington, D.C. to Grand Junction, Colorado will make the agency more efficient, give preferential treatment to the fossil fuel industry—or even functionally dismantle it.

Public Lands Law Opens Access, Criminalizes Locked Gates

By • Aug 28, 2019
A checkboard pattern of public land occurs along the I-80 corridor in Nevada, dating back to the U.S. Government's decision to subsidize construction of railroads by giving companies land in this pattern.
onX

Millions of acres of public land throughout our region are inaccessible to the public. A new law in Nevada is trying to fix that.

New Mountain West Beer Seeks To Raise Money For Public Lands

By • Aug 23, 2019
Highlander Beer

A conservation group and a Mountain West brewery are teaming up to raise money to preserve public lands. Their idea? A new pale ale, called "Public Land Owner."

BLM's Noncompetitive Oil And Gas Lease Sales Costing States Money, Says Report

By • Aug 2, 2019
Bureau of Land Management

Much of the public lands leased for oil and gas in our region are acquired through a noncompetitive process with the Bureau of Land Management. A new report says that's not good for taxpayers.

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