Tag: Bureau of Land Management
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Public Lands Are Part Of Our Nation’s Inheritance
America’s public lands are one of the Nation’s most outstanding achievements. Public lands are part of every citizen’s heritage and an essential part of the national inheritance. It is especially vital to the people living in the western states, where we enjoy an abundance of public land. The public domain is critical to our perception…
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Tribal Co-Managment of Federal Lands– A Questionable Proposal.
The federal agencies including the National Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, US Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service have all been directed to find ways to engage tribal people in co-management of federal lands (or in some cases such as California in state parks and other state lands). These co-management agreements are…
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Livestock Grazing In Wilderness Areas
“The grazing of livestock, where established prior to the effective date of this Act, shall be permitted to continue subject to such reasonable regulations as are deemed necessary by the Secretary of Agriculture.” The Wilderness Act of 1964, Section 4(d)(4)(2) Cattle grazing designaed wilderness in the Sonoran Desert National Monument, Arizona. Photo George Wuerthner No…
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The Dept of Interior Bans M-44s or Cyanide Bombs On BLM Lands
Coyotes are the prime target of M-44s, but numerous other wildlife and pets are also killed by these devices. Photo George Wuerthner Today, the Biden Administration’s Department of Interior has formally banned M-44 or what are known as cyanide bombs, from 245 million acres of Bureau of Land Management federal lands. M-44 are spring-loaded ejectors…
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Update on Ambler Road in Alaska’s Brooks Range
Narvak-Lake-headwaters-of-Kobuk-River-Gates-of-Arctic-NP-Alaska-Brooks-Range. Photo George-Wuerthner While much conservation and political attention have focused on whether to allow oil development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, another project, the Ambler Mining Project, and road construction proposal may pose even greater threats to the Arctic’s wildlife and wildlands. Despite this threat, The Ambler project has thus far received far…
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BLM Fails To Protect Public Patrimony Through Renewal of Grazing Privileges Without Environmental Review
BLM lands in Oregon. This kind of abuse of public patrimony is legalized vandalism. Photo George Wuerthner Western Watershed Project (WWP) recently completed a review of Bureau of Land Management livestock grazing permits that are supposed to be regulated under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976. With climate change and the West…
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Scientists Critique BLM Tri-State Fuel Breaks Proposal
A week ago, eight prominent scientists sent a letter to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) declaring that the agency’s proposed Tri-State Fuel Break (TSFB) is flawed and will endanger sagebrush ecosystems. The Final Environmental Impact Statement (“FEIS”) and other project documents are available on the agency’s website at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/42341/510. To quote the scientists: “If…
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BLM Fuels Reduction and Restoration: License to Destroy Sagebrush Ecosystems
Juniper removal below Abert Rim, Oregon Photo by George Wuerthner The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is now taking comments on a massive vegetation project for the Great Basin and adjacent areas of the Colorado Plateau. The PEIS for Fuels Reduction and Rangeland Restoration in the Great Basin (the Fuels Reduction and Rangeland Restoration…