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Yosemite land swap is part of a bigger pattern of public lands giveaways
According to a new blog post by The Wilderness Society, the Trump administration’s behind-the-scenes push to trade away a piece of Yosemite National Park to a private developer isn’t an isolated move—it’s one of at least seven similar efforts to privatize or dispose of public land. Examples include the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service handing SpaceX a chunk of the […]
Read MoreTrump admin blocks $25 million in funding for national parks
The Interior department has disapproved $25 million in funding for projects at national parks, according to internal documents reviewed by the Washington Post. The cuts will affect over 130 partnership agreements for projects like Native American burial mound protection, an endangered garter snake project, and sled dog care at Denali. The entire batch of projects had already […]
Read MoreAs mining threat looms, poll confirms Utah voters want monuments protected
A majority of Utahns support restoring protections for Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, according to a new poll commissioned by the Grand Canyon Trust. The poll was conducted by New Bridge Strategy and surveyed 500 registered voters. President Donald Trump slashed the size of both monuments by roughly 90 percent in July and eliminated the Bears Ears Commission, […]
Read MoreIndustry and off-roading groups call for elimination of WSAs and weakened Wilderness protections
Review of public comments finds oil, mining, grazing, and off-roading groups are asking the Trump administration to gut protections for every tier of the Wilderness system DENVER—A review of public comments finds that drilling and mining associations, ranching groups, and off-road vehicle advocates are asking the Trump administration to weaken protections for congressionally-designated Wilderness, eliminate […]
Read More20 states sue over Trump’s cuts to protections for endangered species
Twenty states and the District of Columbia filed two lawsuits in federal court on Wednesday to challenge the Trump administration’s rollback of protections for endangered species and wildlife. The Trump administration has initiated a series of regulatory changes that opened the habitats of imperiled animals to drilling, farming, logging and other commercial activities. Both lawsuits argue that […]
Read MoreOil and gas lease sales run into local opposition in Colorado
Joel Mayne is a motorcycle instructor and Desert Storm veteran who lives near the Wyoming border north of Craig, Colorado. Mayne is organizing fellow Moffat County residents to protest the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) sale of the mineral rights beneath Bakers Peak mountain, taking the fight all the way to the Interior Board of Land Appeals in Washington, D.C. In […]
Read MoreTrump administration strips protections for wetlands
The Trump administration released a rule on Friday to remove protections for millions of acres of wetlands across the country. Wetlands help filter drinking water and provide critical habitat for birds and other wildlife. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed a rule that will significantly narrow the definition of “Waters of the United […]
Read MoreForest Service to close 23 research stations nationwide
The U.S. Forest Service announced Wednesday it will close 23 research stations across more than a dozen states, as part of a restructuring that has already cost the agency roughly 6,000 employees. Forty-one other facilities originally slated for closure will stay open after pushback from Congress and local communities, and the agency says 95 employees at the shuttered sites will be relocated rather […]
Read MoreGroups sue Trump administration over monument reductions
Patagonia, Tribally-led groups including Utah Diné Bikéyah and A’Nuche, as well as archaeology, outdoor recreation, and conservation groups filed to reactivate a lawsuit over the shrinking of Bears Ears National Monument on Wednesday. They are asking a federal judge to reopen their dormant 2017 case challenging Trump’s first dismantling of Bears Ears and to fold in new claims against his […]
Read MoreJudge rejects BLM attempt to swap solar farm permit for data center
A federal administrative judge has halted construction of what would have been the first data center ever permitted on Bureau of Land Management land, near Boulder City, Nevada, ruling that the Trump administration’s attempt to swap out an environmental review for a different project doesn’t hold up. The project began in 2023 as a routine solar and battery […]
Read MoreGrand Canyon flash flood kills 2, leaves 1 still missing
A flash flood tore through the bottom of the Grand Canyon over the weekend, killing at least two people and leaving one missing. Between half an inch and a full inch of rain fell in just 30 minutes Saturday afternoon, sending a wall of water down Bright Angel Creek toward the Colorado River. Phantom Ranch, Bright Angel […]
Read MoreLIVE from Tucson: Arizona’s Public Lands and the Border Wall
Recorded live at Scoundrel and Scamp Theatre in Tucson as part of CWP’s Keep Parks Public campaign, Aaron interviews four experts about the current state of Arizona’s public lands: Matthew Nelson with the Arizona Trail Association, Russ McSpadden with the Center for Biological Diversity, Emily Burns with Sky Island Alliance, and Amy Juan from the […]
Read MoreInterior pushes to give away a piece of Yosemite
For more than a year, the National Park Service has been quietly working at the direction of Trump officials to hand over a strip of land inside Yosemite National Park to a private developer as part of a land swap, according to agency documents and four people familiar with the discussions reported by NOTUS. The deal would give […]
Read MoreArizona conservation and Tribal leaders denounce border wall construction on public lands, join campaign to Keep Parks Public
TUCSON—Arizona conservation and Tribal advocates joined the Center for Western Priorities to call on President Donald Trump, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, and Congress to halt border wall construction that is destroying public lands, severing wildlife corridors, and threatening sacred sites across southern Arizona. At a live taping of The Landscape podcast, the Center for Western Priorities’ Keep […]
Read MoreNew report shows the impact of oil and gas drilling nomination surge on public lands
A new report released yesterday by Rocky Mountain Wild and the Center for Western Priorities illustrates how the Trump administration’s giveaway of national public lands for oil and gas drilling is impacting wildlife, outdoor recreation, and cultural resources across the West. The report, “On the doorstep: How a surge in drilling nominations threatens America’s public lands,” uses eight case studies in […]
Read MoreIntroducing: On Common Ground, a new podcast about the fight to maintain our public lands
Kate and Aaron run through the weekly news, including the Trump administration’s plans to repeal the Roadless Rule and upend the Forest Service’s travel management planning process. Then, we play the first episode of On Common Ground: An American Inheritance, a new podcast from Eleven Dollar Bill studios, for you. In this first episode, host […]
Read MoreNew report shows the impact of oil and gas drilling nomination surge on public lands
DENVER—A new report released today by Rocky Mountain Wild and the Center for Western Priorities illustrates how the Trump administration’s giveaway of national public lands for oil and gas drilling is impacting wildlife, outdoor recreation, and cultural resources across the West. The report, “On the doorstep: How a surge in drilling nominations threatens America’s public lands,” uses eight case […]
Read MoreArmed agents enter Tohono O’odham Nation in border wall construction dispute
Armed and masked agents from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, along with border wall contractors, entered the Tohono O’odham Nation without authorization on Tuesday to work on border wall construction, according to Tribal officials. In recent weeks, the Tohono O’odham Nation has posted “No Trespassing” signs and escorted contractors off the Nation in an effort to resist […]
Read MoreCommenters overwhelmingly oppose BLM’s rollback of oil and gas rule
An analysis released yesterday by the Center for Western Priorities finds overwhelming opposition to the Bureau of Land Management’s proposal to roll back its 2024 oil and gas leasing rule. CWP’s analysis found that of 15,822 comments posted to the docket for this rule on regulations.gov, 99.5 percent opposed the rollback, most commonly on the grounds that weaker bonding requirements would leave […]
Read MoreCommenters overwhelmingly oppose BLM’s rollback of oil and gas rule, analysis finds
99.5 percent of nearly 16,000 comments opposed the Bureau of Land Management’s proposal to gut leasing reforms DENVER — An analysis released today by the Center for Western Priorities finds overwhelming opposition to the Bureau of Land Management’s proposal to roll back its 2024 oil and gas leasing rule. CWP’s analysis found that of 15,822 comments posted to the docket […]
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