Protecting America’s Public Lands and Waters from Drilling

Photo by Loren Blackford
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is one of America's last truly wild places and must be preserved. | Photo by Loren Blackford

Public lands and waters should never be threatened by oil and gas drilling. We work to protect these special places from legislative assaults and federal regulatory rollbacks that threaten to open them up to exploitation by the fossil fuel industry.

April 23, 2021

Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff today announced the addition of 16 new sites to the National Park Service’s Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program. The announcement marks the end of National Parks Week this year.

April 19, 2021

Cheyenne, WY— Farmers and ranchers, conservation, recreation, and tribal groups filed motions to intervene today to defend the Biden administration’s pause on federal oil and gas leasing pending the Department of Interior’s comprehensive review of the program.

16 de abril de 2021

La secretaria del Interior, Deb Haaland, emitió hoy dos órdenes ejecutivas en las que prioriza la acción climática y revoca políticas de la administración Trump que promocionaban el desarrollo de explotaciones de combustibles fósiles en lugar de la seguridad de las comunidades y la naturaleza.

April 16, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Interior Secretary Haaland today issued two executive orders prioritizing action on climate change and revoking Trump administration policies promoting fossil fuel development over the health of communities and the outdoors.

April 15, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C.-- Today marks the end of a public comment period on the Biden Administration’s pause and review of the federal oil and gas leasing program. The comment period brought an outpouring of support for reforming and phasing out fossil fuel leasing on public lands and waters.

April 14, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The annual National Park Week returns from April 17–25. The event celebrates our national parks and encourages everyone to get outdoors and explore the history, culture, and landscapes of these treasured places. The event kicks off Friday, April 16 with a Twitter chat for a conversation about National Park Week, ways to recreate responsibly, connected conservation, and other outdoors topics.

April 14, 2021

WASHINGTON—More than 200 climate, Native American, religious, business and conservation organizations today called on the Biden administration to do a comprehensive environmental review to align federal fossil fuel programs with U.S. climate goals to curb global warming.

March 24, 2021

Washington, DC— Today, the Department of the Interior is hosting the first public forum on the agency’s oil and gas leasing program. The panel comes during the Biden administration’s pause on new leasing offshore and on public lands, and will bring together stakeholders from across the country to discuss impacts of the current leasing system.

March 23, 2021

Conservation groups in the Pacific Northwest filed a legal challenge to reinstate federal protections on more than 3.4 million acres of federal old-growth forests, which are essential for the survival of the threatened northern spotted owl. The lawsuit asks the court to reject a rule issued in the last days of the Trump administration that eliminated one-third of the critical habitat protections for the species. The nonprofit law firms Earthjustice and Western Environmental Law Center represent Audubon Society of Portland, Cascadia Wildlands, Center for Biological Diversity, Conservation…

March 23, 2021

Fresno, Calif.— Conservation groups sued the Bureau of Land Management today over the Trump administration’s rushed sale of seven oil and gas leases on public lands in Kern County, California.