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National parks struggling with maintenance would get a boost under Biden budget request
Basic needs at the largest U.S. national parks top the Biden administration’s first proposed lists of projects to receive funding through public lands trust funds, showing how much maintenance is needed even as parks brace for record numbers of visitors this summer. The projects likely wouldn’t be visible to the usual tourist, but they are […]
Heading for a national park? The ‘biggest season in the history of the Park Service’ predicted
Leaders of a U.S. Senate panel on Wednesday extolled national parks for providing a respite during the COVID-19 pandemic, but cautioned that enthusiasm for outdoors recreation will create its own problems in this summer’s tourism wave. Sen. Angus King, a Maine independent and the chairman of a subcommittee that oversees the U.S. National Park Service, […]
Migratory bird protections to be permanently restored by Biden administration
The Interior Department plans to officially revoke a Trump-era rule that loosened enforcement of a longstanding law to protect migratory birds, the department announced last week. The rule put in place by former Interior Secretary David Bernhardt barred government authorities from holding companies liable for environmental violations leading to the deaths of birds protected under […]
Biden’s ‘30 by 30’ conservation plan urges collaboration with private landowners
The Biden administration plans to broadly define conservation and encourage private landowners to adopt sustainable practices to meet a goal of protecting 30 percent of the land and water in the U.S. by 2030, according to a multi-agency report published Thursday. The recommendations are short of the most aggressive federal directives congressional Republicans feared would be […]
No details yet on Biden conservation plan, but Republicans slam it as a ‘land grab’
Republicans on the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday previewed their objections to the Biden administration’s still-unreleased plan to conserve 30% of U.S. land and water by 2030. President Joe Biden created what is commonly called the “30 by 30 plan” in a Jan. 27 executive order, but the administration hasn’t released details about how […]
Biden official, Manchin suggest GOP alarm over oil & gas leasing pause is overblown
A Bureau of Land Management official conceded little ground to Senate Republicans on the U.S. Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee who lashed out at the the Biden administration’s pause of new oil and gas leasing at a hearing Tuesday. And Democratic committee chair Joe Manchin described speculative oil and gas leasing as senseless. The […]
It’s official: Biden nominates Stone-Manning as public lands chief
The White House said Thursday that President Joe Biden will nominate National Wildlife Federation executive Tracy Stone-Manning of Missoula, Mont., to lead the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Stone-Manning became the senior adviser for conservation policy at the NWF after three years as associate vice president for public lands at the group. She’s also worked […]
In exchange with Lee, Haaland noncommittal on BLM HQ
In her first congressional hearing as the leader of the Interior Department, Secretary Deb Haaland fielded questions from members of a U.S. House spending panel Tuesday on the major conservation and energy initiatives that President Joe Biden has outlined. She was noncommittal about some contentious and high-profile items of deep interest to Western states, like […]
Montana conservationist to be tapped to head Bureau of Land Management
President Joe Biden intends to nominate National Wildlife Federation senior adviser and veteran Montana Democrat Tracy Stone-Manning to direct the Bureau of Land Management, an individual familiar with the process confirmed to States Newsroom Wednesday. Stone-Manning joined the NWF as associate vice president for public lands in 2017 and was promoted to senior adviser for […]
Biden taps expert in Native American law as top lawyer at Interior
President Joe Biden nominated Native American law expert Robert Anderson, an enrolled member of the Bois Forte Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, to be solicitor of the Interior Department Wednesday. The move underscored how the administration is putting a priority on placing Native Americans in charge of the agenda at Interior. Last month, Interior […]
Biden pairs ‘down payment’ on climate crisis with rebuilding infrastructure
The sprawling $2 trillion infrastructure and jobs proposal President Joe Biden laid out Wednesday in Pennsylvania includes significant spending to address climate change, providing what conservationists say is an important “down payment” to address the crisis. A 25-page outline calls for $10 billion for a Civilian Climate Corps, $16 billion for capping abandoned wells and […]
U.S. House panel divides on party lines over how to conserve public lands
In a preview of the arguments likely to be repeated as the Biden administration and Congress work toward conservation goals, Democrats on a U.S. House panel Tuesday outlined what they say is a need for aggressive action on climate. But Republicans worried increased federal involvement would be counterproductive to conservation goals while hurting rural economies. […]