Our Public Lands & Waters

Americans Who Want to Protect Their Public Lands and Waters Are "Financially Illiterate," Says Interior Secretary Burgum Burgum railed against environmental protections during an infrastructure summit hosted by BlackRock, the world's largest investment firm

You read that right.

#publiclands #protectpubliclands #conservation

"Border Wall in Big Bend Is Not Practical Or Strategic," Five Texas Border Sheriffs Say In A Joint Statement Big Bend border sheriffs echo widespread public pushback against 30-foot-high steel wall along the Rio Grande

“Major permanent infrastructure, accompanied by lighting systems, access roads, and maintenance corridors would permanently alter one of the most remote and ecologically significant border landscapes in the United States.” - Big Bend border sheriffs in a joint statement

#publiclands #nobigbendwall

Lawmakers File Amicus Brief Opposing Trump’s Plans For Independence Arch Six Democratic lawmakers have filed an amicus brief in federal court opposing President Trump's plan to erect a 250-foot "Independence Arch" on federal parkland in Washington, D.C.

“Our national parks and public lands are not a canvas for a president’s offensive vanity projects. Attempting to bypass Congress to erect a massive Arch de Trump on federal land is not just absurd, it is a slap in the face to millions of working families who are struggling to get by.”

#publiclands

The "Hellcat" of Conservation: Rosalie Edge and the Fight for the Olympic Rain Forests Born Mabel Rosalie Barrow in New York City on November 3, 1877, Rosalie Edge began life as a member of the social elite: educated in private schools, moving in high-society circles, marrying an Englis...

The greatest American conservationist you've never heard of: Rosalie Edge, “the only honest, unselfish, indomitable hellcat in the history of conservation.”

#internationalwomensday #conservation #protectpubliclands #publiclands

Big Bend Border Wall Remains a Serious Threat to Texas Private and Public Lands "The only thing that will stop us is a dinosaur [discovery]," said a border wall contractor.

“I can tell you from my years of experience as a lifelong resident of the border, that a border barrier out Big Bend is not necessary.” - Terrell County Sheriff Thaddeus Cleveland

#bigbend #protectourparks #protectpubliclands #publiclands #nobigbendwall

Senate Stewardship Caucus Member Steve Daines Votes to Advance Nomination of Steve Pearce for BLM Director If you're looking for a hypocrite, here's a huge one

Just months after joining the Senate Stewardship Caucus, Senator Daines votes to put Steve Pearce, one of recent history's most anti-public-lands politicans, in charge of the Bureau of Land Management.

The hypocrisy is off the chart. Vote him out in November.

#publiclands #protectpubliclands

Homeland Security Plans to Build a Border Wall Through Big Bend National Park DHS Secretary Kristi Noem waived 28 environmental and conservation laws to fast-track this project

I know there's a LOT going on, but this is right up there with the worst of the worst.

Sign the petition! (Linked in my latest article below)

#bigbendnationalpark #nationalparks #protectourparks #publiclands #parkchat

Mike Lee Attacks Grand Staircase-Escalante With the CRA, While Harriet Hageman Goes After the Roadless Rule Two new fronts opened up in the battle for our public lands and waters

Yep...

#publiclands #protectpubliclands

"Removing Trees Increases Water Supply in the West," Says BLM Director Nominee Steve Pearce During a Senate nomination hearing, oil-industry friend Steve Pearce failed to reassure concerned public lands owners

Steve Pearce—the person nominated to control 245 million acres of public lands—thinks that the trees are to blame for the West’s droughts.

During his Senate nomination hearing this morning, he said that "removing trees would increase the West’s water supply."

#conservation #parkchat #publiclands

BLM Plans to Clearcut Almost 2 Million Acres of Western Oregon Old-Growth Forests This would brings us back to the 1960s, when 3 square miles of rain forest were felled every week

The Bureau of Land Management plans to open up almost 2 million acres of public land in western Oregon “to provide a sustained yield of timber production consistent with the maximum productive capacity.”

Put plainly: that means clearcutting and replanting.

#publiclands #protectpubliclands

Interior Department Plans to Transfer 2.1 Million Acres of Public Land to Alaska for Development State of Alaska eyes massive tract of federal public land along the Dalton Highway

This is one of the largest potential transfers of public land in modern American history—and one of the least understood.

Learn more about it here.

#conservation #publiclands #protectpubliclands #publiclandsandwaters

Western Voters Are Sending a Public Lands Warning to Republican Politicians 85% of Western voters say conservation issues influence who they vote for

85% of Western voters want their elected officials to prioritize conservation over resource extraction on public lands and waters.

#conservation #publiclands #protectpubliclands

Republicans Are Destroying the Legacy of One of Their Own: Theodore Roosevelt This is a moment that feels pivotal in America's conservation history

After writing about Teddy Roosevelt’s heirs speaking out against GOP conservation politics on Monday, I couldn’t stop thinking about how pivotal that felt.

And today, it still feels like something’s shifting. So, naturally, I wrote down my thoughts.

#conservation #publiclands #protectpubliclands

Theodore Roosevelt's Descendants Join Boundary Waters Fight We just got some of the most powerful and influential allies imaginable

The direct descendants of Theodore Roosevelt just joined us in writing letters to Congress, demanding Boundary Waters protections.

Think about that for a second.

Then, contact your own Senators again—and again.

202-224-3121

#boundarywaters #publiclands #conservation #protectpubliclands

National Park Privatization Concerns Grow With Hospitality Executive's Nomination for NPS Director “Industrial tourism is a threat to the national parks.

Scott Socha, a top executive at the hospitality giant Delaware North, may be the next NPS Director.

Industrial tourism, sports, entertainment, amusement parks, gambling. THAT is what Delaware North does. THAT has been Scott Socha’s entire career for the past 27 years.

#nationalparks #publiclands

The GOP Goes Scorched Earth in Boundary Waters Battle House Republicans slash conservation protections for beloved wilderness while targeting green groups for investigation.

An excellence deep(er) dive into what's going on in the Boundary Waters right now. Highly recommend for some eye-opening context.

#boundarywaters #protectpubliclands #publiclands #conservation

The Senate may vote on the Boundary Waters mining bill as soon as TOMORROW.

Please take a moment tonight to give your Senators a call and tell them to vote "NO" on H.J. Res. 140!

202-224-3121

#boundarywaters #publiclands #protectpubliclands

It's Code Red For the Boundary Waters and Public Lands Conservation Congress is about to determine what future management of our public lands and waters will look like. Contact your senators now.

Next week the Senate could vote on the Boundary Waters copper mine bill, which would determine how ALL our public lands and waters are managed for the rest of our lives. This is serious.

Please take a minute to contact your Senators this weekend. Thanks!

#boundarywaters #conservation #publiclands

John Francis, the "Planetwalker": the Most Inspiring Story You'll Read Today For 22 years, environmentalist John Francis walked everywhere he went. He didn't talk for 17 of those years.

For 22 years, John Francis walked everywhere, whether it was 5 or 500 miles away. For 17 of them, he didn't say a word. On the way, he earned a Bachelor's, Master's, and PhD in Land Management.

The most inspiring story you'll read today!

#environment #conservation #publiclands #blackhistorymonth

World Wetlands Day and the Gutting of the Clean Water Act On February 2, 1971, representatives from around the world gathered in the Iranian city of Ramsar and signed a treaty aimed at protecting some of the most important, yet also most underappreciated, ec...

Today, February 2, is World Wetlands Day, the anniversary of the Ramsar Convention of 1971.

In the U.S., this day comes at a time when many of the legal tools that once mirrored Ramsar’s ecological understanding—the Clean Water Act of 1972 and Endangered Species Act of 1973—are being narrowed.

The Threatened National Monument Everyone Ignores: Cascade-Siskiyou Oregon's Cascade-Siskiyou is the only national monument specifically mentioned by name in Project 2025. We need to pay attention

Oregon's Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument is worth keeping an eye on in the next couple of years.

It's the only national monument mentioned by name in Project 2025, the administration's guidebook for public lands destruction.

#parkchat #publiclands #publiclandsandwater #protectpubliclands

Red, White, and Blue: Benjamin Franklin, the Turkey, and the Lost American Symbol Yes, this title is dry, but the story is powerful. Read it

In these trying political times, don't be bald eagle. Be a turkey.

Read my latest story, featuring Ben Franklin, below!

If Public Streets Aren't Safe, Public Lands Aren't Either One lesson though: if we want public lands and waters, we need a functioning democracy

No, this didn’t happen on public lands or waters. But it did happen on a public street. Which is equally as relevant. These are the places where common, normal, average, God-fearing, law-biding Americans live their everyday lives.

Canada Works to Create Ten New National Parks, While The U.S. Dismantles Its Own Conservation Legacy. At a moment when the planet is sounding every possible alarm—collapsing ecosystems, accelerating climate change, mass species loss, devastating droughts, floods, and fires—countries are being forced t...

While the U.S. government continues to dismantle its land management agencies and roll back environmental protections, Canada is doing the exact opposite.

In the next 4-5 years, Parks Canada will attempt to create no fewer than ten new national parks. TEN!

#nationalparks #parkchat #publiclands

Self-proclaimed “public lands advocate” and one of the leaders of the so-called “House Public Lands Caucus” Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT) just spoke on the House floor in favor of the Boundary Waters pollution bill (H.J. Res. 140)

Remember this, folks.

#conservation #protectpubliclands #publiclands

URGENT: The Boundary Waters Is Our Biggest Public Lands and Waters Fight Right Now Take action now to prevent mining near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness

Today at 3 pm EST, the House has a hearing on H.J.Res. 140, which would open a copper mine just upstream from the Boundary Waters. Please take a minute right now to contact the Republicans on the committee. Links to their social media and phone numbers in this article.

#boundarywaters #publiclands

"Be a Half-Hearted Fanatic," Ed Abbey Said, "Enjoy Yourselves, Keep the Brain and Body Active, and I Promise You This; You Will Outlive the Bastards" Some necessary words of advice from one of America's legendary public lands advocates

"Do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am—a reluctant enthusiast, a part-time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic.

Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to the body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this; You will outlive the bastards."

#publiclands

Only 20% of American Rivers Are Sufficiently Protected, First-of-its-kind Study Finds Almost two-thirds of river miles in the United States have no meaningful protection at all

According to a new peer-reviewed study, nearly two-thirds of U.S. river miles have no meaningful protection at all.

Nationwide, only 19% of rivers are protected at a level scientists consider viable. In the contiguous United States, that number drops to just 11%.

#publiclands #conservation

Interior Department Opens All Its Public Lands and Waters to Hunting and Fishing, Unless Restricted by Individual Managers Sweeping new order makes hunting and fishing a default use of most Interior-managed public lands and waters

Today, the Interior Department announced that it will open all its public lands and waters to hunting and fishing, except for those where individual managers or laws expressly prohibit them.

#publiclands #conservation #publiclandsandwaters #hunting #fishing #wildlife

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum Wants to Manage Greenland A U.S. acquisition of Greenland would put the massive island under the control of Burgum's Interior Department

If the U.S. were to seize Greenland—through purchase, pressure, or another coercive mechanism—it would almost certainly become federal land. Public land. Managed by Interior. By Doug Burgum.

“We have all the ability to take on that responsibility [of managing Greenland],” he said.

#publiclands