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America "Ceding Its Leadership" On Land Conservation

In this undated file photo provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, an airplane flies over caribou from the Porcupine Caribou Herd on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeast Alaska.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service via AP
In this undated file photo provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, an airplane flies over caribou from the Porcupine Caribou Herd on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeast Alaska.

After more than a century at the forefront on public lands protections, a new report finds the U.S. is being edged out by its neighbors to the north and the south.

Click 'play' to hear the audio version of this story.

“The U.S. is actually kind of ceding its leadership role when it comes to conservation,” says Ryan Richards, a senior analyst who authored the report for the left-leaning Center for American Progress.

It’s been a year sincethe Trump administration cut the size of Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears national monuments in Utah.

Late last year, Congress also opened part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling.

In total the report says more than three million acres lost protection. 

Meanwhile, Richards says Mexico now has more protected land than the U.S. and Canada is close behind.

“What’s really concerning is the U.S. has leveled off and actually shown that we’ve taken a step backwards in the past year and a half or so,” he says.

An Interior Department spokeswoman says her agency has acquired “thousands and thousands” of new acres since 2017 – mostly overseen by the Bureau of Land Management – and suggested submitting a public records request to get more details.  This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUER in Salt Lake City and KRCC and KUNC in Colorado.

Copyright 2018 Boise State Public Radio

Copyright 2021 Boise State Public Radio News. To see more, visit Boise State Public Radio News.

James Dawson joined Boise State Public Radio as the organization's News Director in 2017. He oversees the station's award-winning news department. Most recently, he covered state politics and government for Delaware Public Media since the station first began broadcasting in 2012 as the country's newest NPR affiliate. Those reports spanned two governors, three sessions of the Delaware General Assembly, and three consequential elections. His work has been featured on All Things Considered and NPR's newscast division. An Idaho native from north of the time zone bridge, James previously served as the public affairs reporter and interim news director for the commercial radio network Inland Northwest Broadcasting. His reporting experience included state and local government, arts and culture, crime, and agriculture. He's a proud University of Idaho graduate with a bachelor's degree in Broadcasting and Digital Media. When he's not in the office, you can find James fly fishing, buffing up on his photography or watching the Seattle Mariners' latest rebuilding season.
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