The Biden administration is restoring full protection to three national monuments that President Trump sought to cut down drastically.
- Cecil D. Andrus Endowed Chair for Environment and Public Lands and University Distinguished Professor, Boise State University
Do public lands in the West belong to Westerners, or all Americans? Moving a federal agency’s headquarters from Washington, DC to Colorado is the latest skirmish in a longtime struggle.
The Trump administration has moved to allow electric bikes on all federally owned trails where normal bikes are allowed. A public lands scholar weighs in on the issues this could cause.
The Interior Department is expanding oil and gas leasing on land in six western states that is vital habitat for the greater sage grouse. Lawsuits are certain to follow.
The Trump administration is reopening a plan negotiated under President Obama to protect Western sage grouse. This could signal to states not to bother working together to protect other endangered species.
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke calls himself “a Teddy Roosevelt guy,” but supports many actions that critics call anti-conservation, such as shrinking national monuments and fast-tracking energy projects.
If US Rep. Ryan Zinke of Montana is confirmed as interior secretary, he will face difficult choices about balancing extractive activities like energy production with conservation on public lands.
Debates over federal lands, from the Malheur Refuge takeover to fossil fuel leases on public land, are back in the news. How do the two parties line up on public land policy?
As the National Park Service turns 100 years old, two conservation scholars and former park rangers respond to critics who support privatizing national parks or putting them under state control.
The 1906 Antiquities Act gives presidents unilateral power to protect land as national monuments. The law has saved important places, but has also fueled intense conflicts over land control.
What explains the anger behind the Malheur occupation in Oregon, and why does the BLM own so much land in the West?
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