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.
Rapid City, South Dakota -- A crowd of concerned residents gathered today downtown to protest Interior Secretary Zinke’s failed public lands policies, including his efforts to reopen the Southwest Black Hills to toxic uranium mining. If allowed to move forward, the proposed mine would hand over more than 10,000 acres of land to radioactive and destructive mining, much of it subject to Bureau of Land Management mineral claims.
Rapid City, South Dakota -- Secretary Zinke will be speaking to the Western Governors Association at Mount Rushmore, our nation’s preeminent monument, the morning of June 26. The irony of this venue is not lost in the wake of Zinke’s radical reduction of national monuments including Bear Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments in Utah.Groups will be protesting Zinke’s presence and failed policies in downtown Rapid City.
Salt Lake City, UT -- The House Natural Resources Committee today will host a hearing on the Emery County Public Land Management Act of 2018. The bill has a unique opportunity to implement a precedent-setting process and notable protections for Utah’s public lands that continue to experience significant roll backs. However, as it stands, the bill would lessen protections and worsen the current status of lands protected. A committee vote is anticipated before the end of Congress.
In an inevitable development, a mining company has laid claim to public lands within Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- House Republicans just passed their version of the 2018 farm bill-- a package that weakens the SNAP anti-hunger program and includes provisions undermining bedrock environmental safeguards for clean water, wildlife and forests.In response, Athan Manuel, director of public lands protection for Sierra Club issued the following statement:
DENVER CO -- Huerfano County Commissioners today asked for oil and gas leases near Great Sand Dunes National Park and the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness be deferred. The Commission voted in favor of asking the Bureau of Land Management to hold off on leasing the sensitive lands until further study can be completed on the impacts of dirty fuel development would have on the area’s waters and environment. The vote follows concerns raised by Citizens for Huerfano County and other community members.
Salt Lake City, UT - Today, the Bureau of Land Management sold off over 15,000 acres of public land in Utah and Idaho to dirty fuels interests. Included in the sale were two parcels totaling over 3,000 acres within ten miles of Capitol Reef National Park, which sold for the minimum bid of $2 an acre.
Las Vegas, NV-- Southern Nevadans will call on Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and the local Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to proceed in public process and begin consulting with locals in the establishing of a management plan for Gold Butte National Monument. The process was essentially cancelled when Zinke carried out a review of 27 national monuments-- leaving Gold Butte’s boundaries and future uncertain while preventing local BLM officials from working on a plan with the public.
FLAGSTAFF, AZ-- Under the direction of Sec. Zinke, the Interior Department has included uranium and vanadium on a recently released list of 35 ‘critical minerals’ for national security. The list was meant to identify non-fuel minerals and is part of the Trump administration’s ongoing economic struggle with China over rare earth metals and resources.
SALT LAKE CITY -- Under the direction of Sec. Zinke, the Interior Department has included uranium and vanadium on a recently released list of 35 ‘critical minerals’ for national security. The list was meant to identify non-fuel minerals and is part of the Trump administration’s ongoing economic struggle with China.