Voters finally felt the threat to public lands had reached a critical point, observers say.
Public lands
Posted inArticles
Tohono O’odham fight border wall on sacred, sovereign lands
The nation is using the courts and lobbying congressional Democrats to stop construction near Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Southern Arizona.
Posted inSeptember 2026: On the Trail with Gary Paul Nabhan
In Arctic Alaska, 1.4 million acres of federal land is shifting to state hands
A cascade of changes is underway along its only northern highway.
Posted inArticles
Arctic drilling in Alaska won’t get environmental review in new proposal
The Interior Department will soon publish a ‘categorical exclusion’ that will rubber stamp oil and gas development in Alaska’s remote National Petroleum Reserve.
Posted inArticles
The BLM may stop notifying landowners about drilling under private land. Ranchers are alarmed
Western cattlemen are poised to lose almost all opportunity to comment on oil and gas development underneath their property.
Posted inArticles
Mining execs bought big in company stock days before Bears Ears’ cuts
House Democrats have opened an investigation for insider trading.
Posted inAugust 2026: The Conversations Issue
The conversations we don’t have about safety outdoors
History instructs Black Americans to fear the outdoors. But creating new memories outside will inform our future.
Posted inArticles
What’s destroying Utah’s monuments
The administration wants to open 3 million acres to mining claims and oil and gas leasing at the expense of the landscape.
Posted inArticles
A ban on chainsaws in wilderness is performative, not practical
An experienced trail crew leader argues that, in today’s forests, the rigidity of the regulation buries what it’s designed to protect.
Posted inArticles
The conflict over permanent climbing anchors in wilderness
Climbers concerned about safety are pitted against wilderness advocates worried about overcrowding and unfettered bolting.
Posted inArticles
Pueblo leaders, New Mexico lawmakers speak out to protect Chaco Canyon
Officials call push to remove an oil and gas buffer around the culturally critical monument ‘an absolute gut punch.’
Posted inArticles
A new section of the billion-dollar border wall in Arizona is bent out of shape
At least four panels of the wall in the San Rafael Valley were mysteriously damaged months before a controversy-plagued contractor even finished construction.
Posted inSeptember 2026: On the Trail with Gary Paul Nabhan
Bears Ears cuts also end first-of-its-kind tribal land commissionÂ
A presidential proclamation slashed the monument by 90% despite a promise to involve tribes.
Posted inArticles
Feds transfer grizzly bear management to states
After 20-year controversy and numerous court battles, the Trump administration declared grizzlies recovered despite public lands rollbacks.
Posted inArticles
How a Utah Republican’s quiet battle for hunting access undercut LandBack hopes
Rep. Casey Snider worked behind the scenes for years to transfer large blocks of roadless state trust land to wildlife officials — cutting the Ute Tribe out in the process.
Posted inArticles
The rules for grazing on 155 million acres of public lands are getting overhauled
The new rule cuts public involvement and favors the livestock industry.
Posted inArticles
Sen. Mike Lee targets the Roadless Rule
The Utah senator launched another unpopular assault on public lands.
Posted inJuly 2026: Lost in the Weeds
Billions in border wall contracts are going to a Montana firm run by a Trump donor
Barnard Construction’s leadership donated over $1 million to the president’s campaign. They’re among the administration’s top wall contractors.
Posted inJune 2026: River Revival
Managed retreat in Ruidoso could mean more public lands
Facing fires and floods, homeowners in Lincoln County, New Mexico, are considering buyouts designed to move them out of harm’s way.
Posted inArticles
Elk herd habitat near Dinosaur National Monument to open for drilling
On June 16, the feds will open Colorado’s biggest public land sale in modern history, threatening wildlife and recreation.