Long-awaited Interior Department policy will raise financial assurance and royalty rates.
Public Lands
Posted inApril 2024: Epic Journeys
The great solar build-out
Public-land managers ponder where to allow utility-scale solar projects
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Cattle are drinking the Colorado River dry
Balancing Western water demand and supply will alter the region’s landscape.
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Could building on public land address the housing crisis?
The West has a plethora of land and a shortage of houses. Some are wondering if a solution lies within.
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The good, the bad and the ugly of the state legislative season
While Congress does nothing, Western state lawmakers pass a flurry of consequential and/or crazy — bills.
Posted inApril 2024: Epic Journeys
How states make money off tribal lands
Ten states own 1.6 million acres of land within 83 tribal nations’ reservations. How did they get there?
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What happened to the Great American Outdoors Act?
A historic public lands act passed in 2020. Here’s what it’s done so far.
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Biden plan will earmark millions of acres of public land for solar development
Proposed updates to the Western Solar Plan would also close sensitive areas to utility-scale solar projects.
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Is Biden waging a war on energy? Or on the climate?
A year-end review of the administration’s policy on fossil fuels and public lands.
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Forest Service proposes storing CO2 under public land
‘It’s the opposite of a virtuous cycle.’
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Pondering public lands and the energy transition conundrum
Fighting the climate crisis will require difficult choices.
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Outrage, disinformation and threats rise up in Wyoming around a BLM land plan
Is there a new Sagebrush Rebellion flaring in the Cowboy State?
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Private development inside Grand Teton National Park possible
‘Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.’
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Cultural fire is good fire, and California needs more of it
Indigenous land stewards say cultural fires are key to building a fire-resilient landscape.
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New refuge provides hope for critically endangered toad
One of the most endangered amphibians in North America faces threats but also possibilities.
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Public-land recreation management near Moab gets an overhaul
BLM releases new high-profile travel plan for Labyrinth Canyon area.
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Myth and mending in the true West
People in the region are willing to take time for self-reflection, support and tolerance of differences.
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Could the 151-year-old mining law finally be reformed?
A working group calls for reforms in advance of a green metals boom.
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The state of tribal co-management of public lands
As National Public Lands Day approaches, Indigenous leaders discuss working with agencies to manage dispossessed lands.
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BLM has a plan to tackle booming recreation — at least in theory
The agency is taking a hard look at how to protect land and wildlife while welcoming ever more visitors.