Counties & Federal Lands
While most Mountain Westerners favor the conservation of public lands, most of their elected officials are either openly hostile or passively wimpy. Conservation organizations need to rethink its nonprofit status to allow effective legislative and political engagement. Now.
Read MoreIf the recommended critical tweaks are made to remove the ugly parts (grazing “rights” and further exaltation of livestock grazing in wilderness areas) of S.1890, the Senate and the House of Representatives should pass the bill and the president should sign it into law.
Read MoreWith a few critical tweaks, Senator Wyden’s legislation could be a net gain for the conservation of nature for the benefit of this and future generations. Without those tweaks, the bill as drafted is an existential threat to the conservation of federal public lands and should not be enacted into law.
Read MoreUnderstanding the history of public lands is useful if one is to be the best advocate for the conservation of public lands.
Read MoreFigure 1. Some red cliffs in the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area. Source: Bureau of Land Management.
As the Trump administration was slithering out the door in mid-January, it issued decisions that would put a new 4.5-mile-long four-lane divided highway through both the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area and a particular stronghold for the imperiled Mojave desert tortoise.
Read MoreFig. 1. The County Courthouse in Baker County, Oregon. Source: Gary Halvorson, Oregon State Archives.
There has long been tension between short-term local interests and long-term national interests in the nation’s public lands. Understandably, but incorrectly, those living closer to federal public lands tend to feel they should have a greater say in how the nation’s public lands are managed.
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