As ever, changes to the agency’s wild horse policy have sparked controversy.
Public lands
Posted inJuly 25, 2016: Salmon Power
Land transfer battles rage on, county by county
The American Lands Council supports local control but keeps its list of member counties secret.
Posted inArticles
This year’s GOP platform pushes federal land transfers
“Returning” lands to states has long been a party plank and a shifting political landscape could open the door.
Posted inArticles
How will Trump act on conservation and public lands?
Presidential campaigns offer a sneak peek into natural resource policies.
Posted inJune 27, 2016: The New Advocates
Diversity in the outdoors, one hashtag at a time
A conversation with Teresa Baker, founder of Hike Like a Girl.
Posted inJune 27, 2016: The New Advocates
Meet the group that’s turning artists into nature’s advocates
In the backcountry, an experiment in using art to elevate environmental issues.
Posted inJune 27, 2016: The New Advocates
Meet the new advocates for the West
A generation of young Western activists are using outdoor sports as a step towards conservation.
Posted inArticles
Right-wing militant charged for planting a bomb at BLM building
A federal felony complaint reveals that the feds are continuing to investigate extremism on public lands.
Posted inArticles
West Obsessed: The legacy of sexual harassment in public-lands agencies
Listen to HCN reporters discuss this long-standing institutional problem.
Posted inArticles
In praise of a wild West
A 21st-century vision for Western public lands, including their role in solving challenges like climate change.
Posted inArticles
Arizona Rep. Grijalva targets extremism on public lands
Dozens of high-profile former federal employees sign a letter urging Congress to address Sagebrush Insurgency threats.
Posted inJune 13, 2016: Water to Dust
Federal-lands ranching: A half-century of decline
How grazing fell from its Western pedestal — and fueled Sagebrush Rebellion.
Posted inArticles
The land transfer movement’s great public-lands hoax
Idaho has sold off 40 percent of its state lands. Why would it do any different with formerly federal lands?
Posted inMay 30, 2016: Trial by Fire
How the BLM is overhauling land-use planning
The agency is aiming to increase public involvement and collaboration.
Posted inArticles
Mapping the large-scale loss of natural areas in the West
Urban sprawl, energy development, agriculture and forestry have an ever-larger footprint on the West.
Posted inArticles
Grand Canyon superintendent retires after harassment investigation
Park Service says change in leadership will move agency forward in addressing sexual harassment.
Posted inArticles
Note to politicians: Don’t mess with fishing access in Montana
A candidate for governor is drawing heat over revelations that he sued to close river access on the Gallatin River.
Posted inMay 16, 2016: Grizzly Face-Off
Who’s cutting illegal ski trails in the Santa Fe National Forest?
On the trail of a backcountry criminal with the Forest Service.
Posted inArticles
Protests against drilling on public lands are escalating
In Colorado, another showdown at a government auction for oil and gas leases.
Posted inArticles
How tribes led the fight over Badger-Two Medicine oil and gas leases
As a young girl, Blackfeet tribal member Helen Augare-Carlson remembers her grandfather anticipating his yearly hunting trip in the Badger-Two Medicine region of northern Montana. “It fulfilled him,” says Augare-Carlson. When she returned to the Blackfeet Reservation in Browning in the early 2000s, the Forest Service was beginning to establish a “traditional cultural district” within […]