Public Lands
Public Lands Watch: Sage Grouse Plan Revisions
BLM and Forest Service produce draft environmental impact statements for plan revisions
I wrote in the fall about the Trump Administration’s efforts to weaken protections for sage grouse on federal public lands. The next step in that process is currently ongoing – draft environmental impact statements (EIS) for revisions to land management plans for BLM and Forest Service lands. Those EISs are required by the National Environmental …
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CONTINUE READINGWhat Trump Gives Appalachia With One Hand, He Takes Away with the Other
Ryan Zinke’s public land policies are accelerating the decline of eastern coal.
There is no one who Trump loves more than coal miners, and he has surrounded himself with Appalachian coal miners on important occasions. One of his most fervent pledges was to “end the war on coal.” Yet, Trump’s public lands policies are helping to accelerate the decline of eastern coal. A recent study by researchers …
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CONTINUE READINGLaw professor comment on BLM proposal to revoke methane rule
Comment ids flaws in BLM’s proposal to revoke rule restricting methane emissions from oil and gas development on federal lands
I’ve already posted a couple of times on BLM’s proposal to revoke a rule that limits methane emissions (a major greenhouse gas) from oil and gas operations on federal lands. The period for public comment on BLM’s proposal closes today. A group of environmental law professors just filed a comment noting major legal problems with …
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CONTINUE READINGNative American Treaties, Declining Salmon Populations, Broken Promises & Environmental Justice
Pending Washington v. U.S. Supreme Court Decision Offers Hope & Vindication for Tribes, Coastal Fisheries
Truth be told, the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2017-18 Term has been an unsually quiet one for environmental and natural resources law. Until now. This week the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a last-minute addition to the Court’s current docket. Washington v. United States, No. 17-269, a case the justices only accepted for review in January, …
CONTINUE READINGTales From the Front: A Field Trip to the Utah Monuments
Personal Reflections on the Raging Debate Over Trump’s Utah Monument Reductions
One of most highly visible disputes arising out of the Trump Administration’s multifaceted efforts to roll back and nullify the natural resources policies of previous administrations is the decision by President Trump and Secretary of the Interior Zinke to substantially reduce two national monuments in Utah created by former President Obama under the Antiquities Act. President Trump’s December …
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CONTINUE READINGEnquiring Minds Want to Know (Ryan Zinke edition)
Depending on the Fall elections, Secretary Zinke could face some difficult oversight sessions.
Control of the House matters for many reasons, but perhaps most importantly because of the power to conduct investigations. We can’t be sure of how the election will come out, of course, but if the Democrats do take the House, they may have some questions for Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke. Here are a …
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CONTINUE READINGUnited States v. California and SB 50
Federal lawsuit against California’s law to protect federal public lands may not be an easy win
Monday the federal government filed a lawsuit against the state of California challenging SB 50, a state law that attempts to give the state the ability to purchase federal public lands that are sold or disposed of. The lawsuit has gotten a lot of attention in the press, some with assessments that the federal government’s …
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CONTINUE READINGPublic Lands Watch: Fire Appropriations and 2018 Omnibus
2018 Omnibus bill expands future funding for fire suppression efforts, and streamlines environmental review for some timber projects
Tom Schumann helped draft this blog post. The 2018 budget act signed into law on March 23, 2018 will increase the funding available for wildfire suppression, enabling the Forest Service and Interior Department to respond to ever more severe fires while easing the strain on their overall budgets. Before the new law, Congress limited appropriations …
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CONTINUE READINGContentious California Beach Access Case Heads to U.S. Supreme Court
Longstanding Martins Beach Controversy May Well Capture Justices’ Attention
The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018-19 Term is already shaping up as a big one for environmental law in general and the longstanding tension between private property rights and environmental regulation in particular. The Court has already agreed to hear and decide two cases next Term raising the latter set of issues: one involves the question …
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CONTINUE READINGEnsuring Public Access to California Waterways–In Plain Language
New California State Lands Commission Public Access Guide Required Reading for Coastal Enthusiasts
California residents are passionate about their coastal and inland waterways–and especially their ability to access and enjoy these natural resources. It was concern over being “walled off from the coast” by private development that prompted California voters in 1972 to approve an initiative measure that created the California Coastal Commission and led to California’s Coastal …
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