How bipartisan pushback has helped prevent oil and gas leasing on some of the West's most prized public lands President Donald Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum have made clear their intent to prioritize energy production on America’s public lands. In their...
Extractive industries keep leaving toxic messes across the West. Will history continue to repeat itself? The Western United States has a long history of extractive industrial activity. Since the 1800s, westward colonization has both driven and relied upon the...
A new report from the Center for Western Priorities finds that bills to protect over 16 million acres of public land in the West are currently languishing in Congress. Protecting these landscapes would bring the nation closer to achieving the goal of conserving 30...
President Joe Biden has the opportunity to build on the legacy of Presidents George W Bush and Barack Obama by designating national monuments that honor the stories of Black, Native American, and Latino people in the U.S.
Learn more about the history of cultural national monuments designated using the Antiquities Act as well as the proposed monuments President Biden could designate right now using the Act.
Report finds wilderness-quality lands are nearly 3 TIMES less likely to be managed to protect those characteristics if they are overlapped by oil and gas leases—even if those leases are purely speculative and are not being drilled.
One of the many ways we can reach the 30×30 goal is through creating and expanding national monuments. National monuments demonstrate how we can turn the 30×30 principles into action, combining local conservation efforts with the resources necessary to manage and protect them. Check out five special places in the American West that could be America’s next national monument.
The Center for Western Priorities’ digital interactive report on the oil industry’s public lands stockpile examines the millions of acres of idle leases stockpiled by the oil and gas industry. The report maps out oil and gas leases and finds that the oil industry is currently sitting on 9.9 million acres of idle leases across ten Western states—47.4 percent of all leases in the region.
Conserving more land and water directly benefits hunters and anglers. The goal of protecting 30% of America by 2030 can improve recreation access and protect fish and wildlife, eliminating barriers and challenges faced by sportsmen and women that impact their ability to hunt and fish on public and private lands. This report is part of our larger “Road to 30” interactive storymap series.
Urban natural areas are key to ensuring that everyone has access to nature. At the same time, these spaces can provide important habitat for wildlife, supporting entire ecosystems and enabling them to coexist alongside us. Urban conservation must be part of the effort to protect 30% of America by 2030. This report is part of our larger “Road to 30” interactive storymap series.
Wildlife corridors are the routes along which wildlife move through their habitats—whether those paths are local or regional. As we work to protect 30% of America by 2030, it is key that ecological connectivity is preserved and centered in the effort. Conserving wildlife corridors is one way to do that. This report is part of our larger “Road to 30” interactive storymap series.