• Land

Trump Rushes to Hand Over Sacred Indigenous Land to Mining Companies

• copper mining
• indigenous communities
• mining
• Oak Flat
• Rio Tinto

by Amy Lupica, ODP Contributing Writer The Trump administration is continuing its hail-Mary attempt to develop public lands, even as the GSA announces it will begin the transition of power to the Biden administration. Trump has embarked on a rushed effort to transfer ownership of south-eastern Arizona’s Oak Flat, considered holy by the Apache people, […]

• Land

A New Alliance for Farming’s Climate Impact

• dairy farmers
• farmers
• soil carbon sequestration

by Ashira Morris, ODP Contributing Writer The American Farm Bureau Federation, which has actively pushed back on reducing emissions from its sector, has joined environmental organizations in the newly formed Food and Agriculture Climate Alliance. The plan, as InsideClimate News reports, is for the alliance to work with Congress and the incoming Biden administration to […]

• Land

Maasai Mara Conservancies Get Some Relief

• Africa
• conservation
• Conservation International
• game reserve
• Maasai Mara

The Maasai Mara is home to 25% of Kenya’s wildlife and the place of the greatest annual migration of animals on Earth. The land is owned by the indigenous Maasai people, who lease it to conservancies for tourism operations, which in turn fund conservation efforts that drive wildlife tourism. The conservancy conservation model that makes […]

• Land

Trump Team Rushes to Drill In Arctic — But Will They Fall Flat?

• ANWR
• drilling
• endangered species
• oil and gas

On Monday the Interior Department took the next step toward opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil and gas drilling — they are rushing the process to auction off oil and gas drilling rights there before President Trump leaves office on January 20th, numerous outlets reported. 

Why This Matters:  A Biden spokesperson said that this move “will not deter him from fulfilling his commitment to preserving America’s national treasures and the local economies and communities they support,” according to the Wall Street Journal.

• Land

For Peat’s Sake: Protecting Scotland’s Bogs

• #30x30
• 30 by 30
• carbon sequestration
• peat bogs
• peatland
• Scotland

by Ashira Morris, ODP Contributing Writer Scotland’s Flow Country could soon be home to the globe’s first peat bog protected as a world heritage site. The blanket bog covers over 1,500 square miles stretching across the northern tip of Scotland. Peatlands like the ones in Flow Country are one of the most efficient carbon trappers […]

• Land

Trump Administration Proposes List of Conservation Projects After Deadline

• conservation
• Great American Outdoors Act
• LWCF
• Trump

by Natasha Lasky, ODP Contributing Writer On Monday, the Trump administration submitted an index of projects that will get funding under a conservation program, which could help protect a number of important national parks throughout the nation. The only issue is that the administration submitted this list a week after it was due to Congress.  […]