public lands

Why Trump’s Shrinking of Bears Ears Will Be Reversed

Why Trump’s Shrinking of Bears Ears Will Be Reversed

By Eric Biber, Nicholas Bryner, Sean B. Hecht and Mark Squillace On Dec. 4, President Trump traveled to Utah to sign proclamations downsizing Bears Ears National Monument by 85 percent and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument by nearly 50 percent. “[S]ome people think that the natural resources of Utah should be controlled by a small handful […]

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    Congress, Trump Exploit Fire Tragedy to Promote Logging Agenda

    Congress, Trump Exploit Fire Tragedy to Promote Logging Agenda

    By Chad Hanson In the wake of the October 2017 fires in Northern California, which resulted in the loss of so many lives and homes, people affected by the tragedy are grieving and bewildered. Many people are searching for answers about what caused the fires, and a way forward to prevent similar loss of life […]

    Massive Fracking on Nevada Public Lands Sought by Trump Administration, Conservation Groups Launch Legal Protest

    Massive Fracking on Nevada Public Lands Sought by Trump Administration, Conservation Groups Launch Legal Protest

    Three conservation groups filed an administrative protest Monday against an enormous Bureau of Land Management oil and gas lease auction, scheduled for Dec. 12, that would allow fracking on more than 600 square miles of Nevada public lands. The 388,000 acres in eastern Nevada includes important regional springs and groundwater and critical habitat for imperiled […]

    Alaska Sen. Murkowski Introduces Bill to Drill Arctic Wildlife Refuge

    Alaska Sen. Murkowski Introduces Bill to Drill Arctic Wildlife Refuge

    Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) introduced legislation Wednesday night that would open a portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil and gas development for the first time. The bill could advance with only 51 votes in the Senate instead of the usual 60 as it complies under Congress’ budget resolution instructions for 2018. […]

    Fate of National Monuments Remains Shrouded in Secrecy: Earthjustice Sues Federal Agencies for Withholding Information From Public

    Fate of National Monuments Remains Shrouded in Secrecy: Earthjustice Sues Federal Agencies for Withholding Information From Public

    For months, the Interior Department, Bureau of Land Management and the White House Council on Environmental Quality have repeatedly failed to answer the public’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for information related to the Trump administration’s ongoing review of national monuments—protected federal lands and waters that belong to the American people. The review of […]

    National Forests, Endangered Species Under Attack as House Republicans Pass Reckless Logging Bill

    National Forests, Endangered Species Under Attack as House Republicans Pass Reckless Logging Bill

    In a partisan vote, Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation Wednesday that would devastate national forests by gutting endangered species protections and rubber-stamping huge logging projects. The final vote was 232 to 188. HR 2936, sponsored by Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), also limits public comment and environmental review under the National Environmental […]

    Cliven Bundy’s Armed Insurrection, Rooted in Religious Extremism, Goes on Trial

    Cliven Bundy’s Armed Insurrection, Rooted in Religious Extremism, Goes on Trial

    By John Dougherty In two heavily armed, militia-backed confrontations with the federal government in 2014 and 2016, Nevada scofflaw rancher Cliven Bundy and his family successfully created a self-serving narrative of a God-fearing, hard-working, true-blooded American family fearlessly battling an overreaching, oppressive and unconstitutional federal bureaucracy. Bundy, 71, became a national figure in April 2014 […]

    Tyson Foods Linked to Largest Toxic Dead Zone in U.S. History

    Tyson Foods Linked to Largest Toxic Dead Zone in U.S. History

    By Shana Gallagher What comes to mind when you think of Tyson Foods? A chicken nugget? A big red logo? How about the largest toxic dead zone in U.S. history? It turns out the meat industry—and corporate giants like Tyson Foods—are directly linked to this environmental catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico, and many others. […]