Takeaways From ProPublica’s Investigation on Public Lands Grazing — ProPublica

Livestock grazing is allowed across 240 million acres of federal land. Our investigation revealed the subsidies propping up ranching, its impact on the environment and the politics underpinning the system...

https://www.propublica.org/article/grazing-public-lands-investigation-takeaways 

 

Wealthy Ranchers Profit From Public Lands. Taxpayers Pick Up the Tab. — ProPublica

Stan Kroenke doesn't need federal help to make a business flourish. He is worth an estimated $20 billion, a fortune that has allowed him to become one of America's largest property owners and afforded him stakes in storied sports franchises, including the Denver Nuggets and England's Arsenal soccer club. 

 Yet Kroenke, whose wife is an heiress to the Walmart fortune, benefits from one of the federal government's bedrock subsidy programs, one that props up ranching in the West...

https://www.propublica.org/article/grazing-ranchers-public-lands-trump 

 

Biden Administration Rule Improves Accountability For Big Oil Corporations That Profit From Public Lands

"The Biden administration deserves our thanks for holding accountable the companies who have gotten a sweetheart deal to drill public property for far too long. Anyone who wants to profit from resources that belong to all American taxpayers should pay their fair share. This is an important step toward fixing a wildly irresponsible system that has given so much to massive corporations at the expense of everyone who enjoys the great outdoors."

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/biden-administration-rule-improves-accountability-for-big-oil-corporations-that-profit-from-public-lands  

Biden moves to protect public lands with sweeping conservation rule - The Washington Post

Under President Biden, the BLM has put a greater emphasis on protecting public lands from the twin threats of climate change and development. Tracy Stone-Manning, the bureau's director, has warned that hotter, drier climates are driving longer and more intense wildfires and drought across the American West. At the same time, development has fragmented and destroyed wildlife habitat and migratory corridors...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/04/18/biden-public-lands-conservation-rule/

Royalties for Drilling on Public Lands to Increase - The New York Times

For the first time since 1920, the government has raised the rates that companies pay. The fossil fuel industry says it will hurt the economy...

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/12/climate/biden-administration-raises-costs-to-drill-and-mine-on-public-lands.html

Biden administration announces clean energy growth on public lands | The Hill

…A new report from the federal government said that the bureau authorized or facilitated 12 public lands projects and supported the development of 2,890 megawatts — enough to power more than 300 million LED lights — of generating capacity from onshore wind, solar and geothermal energy…

https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/3273953-biden-administration-announces-clean-energy-growth-on-public-lands/

Trump wants to put a rightwing zealot in charge of public land. Here's why it matters

William Perry Pendley, Trump’s nominee to lead the Bureau of Land Management, has ties to anti-environment and anti-government forces https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jul/06/trump-public-land-pick-william-perry-pendley

Court vacates nearly 300 oil and gas leases on public lands | TheHill

A federal court on Friday vacated 287 oil and gas leases issued by the U.S. government that covered 145,063 acres of land in Montana, deciding that the Trump administration did not adequately consider risks to the environment and water supply.
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/496059-court-vacates-nearly-300-oil-and-gas-leases-on-public-lands

Trump seizes on pandemic to speed up opening of public lands to industry

The Trump administration has ratcheted up its efforts amid the coronavirus pandemic to overhaul and overturn Obama-era environmental regulations and increase industry access to public lands. The secretary of the interior, David Bernhardt, has sped efforts to drill, mine and cut timber on fragile western landscapes. Meanwhile, the EPA, headed by the former coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler, has weakened critical environmental laws and announced in March that it would cease oversight of the nation’s polluters during the Covid-19 crisis. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/30/public-lands-sale-trump-coronavirus-environmental-regulations

Interior transfers parts of public lands to Army for border wall construction - The Hill

The Interior Department approved a transfer of 560 acres of public land to the U.S. Army to build about 70 miles of border wall, Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt announced Wednesday.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/462089-interior-transfers-parts-of-public-land-to-army-for-border-wall

Leaked Documents Reveal the Trump Administration's Plan to Sell off Our Public Lands -- Mother Jones

President Donald Trump and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke have repeatedly said they oppose selling off federal lands. ....
https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2018/01/leaked-documents-reveal-the-trump-administrations-plan-to-sell-off-our-public-lands/

Trump Is Quietly Redefining America's Public Lands -- BuzzFeed News

Two recent policy reversals affecting hotly contested areas of the West come as the Trump administration makes moves to open up the nation's public lands. ...
https://www.buzzfeed.com/jimdalrympleii/trump-is-quietly-redefining-americas-public-lands?utm_term=.bue7oBOOo#.xnOlp2zzp

Leaked documents show Trump administration plans more mining and drilling on public lands

The Trump administration looks to “streamline” the fossil fuel extraction process....
https://thinkprogress.org/blm-priorities-document-91917fc0fca9