• Politics

LWCF One Step Closer to Permanent Funding

• #FUNDLWCF
• Colorado
• LWCF
• Montana
• Public Lands
• Senate

Although President Trump has repeatedly called for cutting its funding by as much as 97%, earlier this year he called on Congress to pass a law to permanently fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). Yesterday, the bill to permanently fund the LWCF came one step closer to becoming law.  The cloture vote on […]

• Health

Coronavirus: Forgetting Nature is Not An Option

• #COVID19
• coronavirus
• nature
• Public Lands

Yesterday, House Natural Resources Committee Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Vice Chair Deb Haaland (D-N.M.) sent a letter to Interior Secretary David Bernhardt urging him to close Grand Canyon National Park and other national parks and public lands at risk of spreading coronavirus due to continued crowding and high visitation levels. In the midst […]

• People

Interview of the Week: Senator Tom Udall

• 30 by 30
• New Mexico
• Public Lands
• Stewart Udall
• Tom Udall

Today would have been Stewart Udall’s 100th birthday and to honor the occasion we wanted to ask his son, Senator Tom Udall of New Mexico, about his father’s legacy and the ways in which it resonates in today’s world. We wanted to thank the Senator for his touching words, we hope you enjoy!   ODP: […]

• Politics

Governor Bullock Rolls Out A Plan for Public Lands

• climate change
• mining
• National Forests
• National Parks
• Public Lands
• reclamation

Last Friday, in the midst of a snowstorm that dumped up to four feet of snow in some areas of Montana, Governor Steve Bullock announced the second major policy proposal of his Presidential campaign, a policy on public lands management and ownership.  Bullock’s plan has three main principles:  (1) tackling climate change; (2) honoring our heritage of public land ownership by restoring and increasing public lands; and (3) making sure that all Americans get a fair shot at enjoying the opportunities that public lands provide.

Why This Matters:  As a western governor whose state consists of some of the nation’s most beloved and beautiful national parks, Bullock is in a good position to speak to the issue of whether the federal government should own and should conserve (rather than develop) more land.

• Land

The U.S. Is Losing Its Wild Places Fast

• Center for American Progress
• environmental degradation
• habitat loss
• Public Lands
• wetlands

A recent report published by the Center for American Progress and the Conservation Science Project reveals the massive degree to which the United States has slowly but surely losing its natural landscapes — forests, grasslands, deserts — to roads, houses, pipelines, and other development. 

• Land

How Protected are Protected Areas? The Data Might Shock You.

• conservation
• protected areas
• Public Lands
• Trump

Rollbacks on Protected Areas Sets a Dangerous Precedent A protected area is a legally defined geographical space that’s actively managed to protect it in the long term from destructive human activities. These areas are crucial to the conservation of vulnerable species as well as the preservation of places of spiritual importance to indigenous people. However, […]