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Legislation to improve access to public lands and address issues related to rising usage has been introduced in the U.S. House.
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The HOUSES Act would allow the sale of federal land to a state or local government, so long as there's a plan in place to build affordable housing there.
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The public comment period for the Bureau of Land Management’s proposed public lands rule closed this week, with well over 200,000 people weighing in. The Center for Western Priorities, which supports the proposal, analyzed those comments and found that an overwhelming majority was supportive.
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The protection of greater sage grouse is in conversation again. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is planning to update its protections this year, as the bird is considered a ‘sensitive species.’ But several conservation groups wrote the agency a letter saying it is still not enough.
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One element of the BLM’s proposed Public Lands Rule would allow for so-called conservation leasing, which would enable public and private entities to carry out restoration work or compensatory mitigation to offset the impacts of projects. The Center for American Progress, a progressive think tank, says that such leases could speed the development of clean energy on public lands, an important prospect given the Biden administration’s ambitious goal of permitting 25 gigawatts of such projects by 2025.
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A federal judge in Wyoming has ruled in favor of four hunters in a case that tested the legality of "corner crossing," or stepping from one parcel of public land to another over a common corner shared with private property – a common practice due to the checkerboard pattern of land ownership in parts of the Mountain West.
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The Bureau of Land Management is proposing a new Public Lands Rule that would - among other things - clarify that "conservation is a use on par with other uses of federal public lands."
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The Bureau of Land Management recently proposed an overhaul to the way it manages federal public lands that would elevate conservation as pressure on Western rangelands mounts.
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One of the hardest endurance adventure races in the lower 48 is right here in Wyoming, in the Wind River Mountains. Due to an extreme winter storm, this year was the hardest version of the race to date.
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A new report shows public land conservation lagged in some Western states over the past decade, but the number of acres protected in the Mountain West varies widely by state.