The Navajo, Hopi, Ute and Zuni tribes all have historical roots in the area known as Bears Ears, which also is home to important environmental sites, say supporters of the move to re-establish a 1.36 million acre national monument in the southern Utah lands. (Photo by Josh Ewing/Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition)
Posted in Indigenous News News Public Lands

Biden reverses Trump cuts to national monuments, restores Bears Ears

by Diannie Chavez, Cronkite News October 11, 2021 Washington        President Joe Biden restored Bears Ears National Monument to its previous 1.36 million-acres footprint Friday, reversing a Trump-era decision to cut as much as 85%…

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Posted in Energy News Public Lands

Environmental groups applaud Biden’s plan to pause new oil and gas leasing on public lands

“The simple truth is that we need to stop drilling and fracking everywhere, as soon as possible.” by Kenny Stancil, staff writer Wednesday, January 27, 2021 As President Joe Biden prepares to enact a temporary moratorium…

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A drilling rig in the Uinta Basin in Utah, with the Uinta Mountains shown in the background. (Photo: WildEarth Guardians/Flickr/cc)
Posted in Common Dreams Energy News Public Lands

Oil companies can set their own rates for royalties from drilling on public lands

“Oil and gas corporations already pay pennies compared to what they make in profits from plundering public lands—land that belongs to the American people—and now they’ll pay even less.” by Julia Conley, staff writer Friday, May…

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Gunnison National Forest’s Pilot Knob roadless area. Photo credit, Peter Hart, Wilderness Workshop
Posted in Colorado Plateau Conservation Courts/justice Environment Mining News Public Lands

Appeals court rules Forest Service acted illegally opening Colorado forest to coal mining

“This is a victory for the remarkable wild forests of the North Fork Valley,” said Robin Cooley, the Earthjustice attorney who argued the case on behalf of the conservation groups. “The Court reversed the Forest Service’s…

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Posted in Courts/justice Energy Mining News Off the wire Public Lands The West

Judge voids Trump oil and gas lease sales on nearly 1 million acres of Sage Grouse habitat

“The judge confirmed that it’s illegal to silence the public to expand fossil-fuel extraction.” by Andrea Germanos, staff writer Environmental advocates cheered a federal judge’s ruling Thursday that voided oil and gas leases on roughly one…

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Posted in Colorado Plateau Diné Environmental Justice First Peoples News Hopi News Public Lands Utah Diné Bikeyah Water

Latest Bears Ears planning meeting convenes without indigenous voices

“Am I the only Indigenous person in the room right now?” asked Angelo Baca, a Navajo and Hopi resident of San Juan County and member of Utah Diné Bikeyah who attended the meeting as an observer….

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The Bears Ears
Posted in Colorado Plateau Diné First Nations Hopi News Public Lands Public Policy Ute Ute Mountain Ute Zuni Pueblo

Bears Ears: what’s the rumble about?

Bears Ears is the first tribally requested national monument and has been home to Hopi, Diné, Ute, Ute Mountain Ute, and Zuni peoples since time immemorial, it was designated as a national monument in 2016 to…

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Posted in Analysis Energy Environment Environmental Justice Health Mining Public Lands Science The Revelator The West Water

Report: ‘No Evidence That Fracking Can Operate Without Threatening Public Health’

More than 1,500 scientific studies on the health and climate impacts of fracking prove its dangerous effect on communities, wildlife and nature. By Tara Lohan, The Revelator In 2010 when I first started writing about hydraulic…

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The Trump administration on Thursday released its final management plans for a lands previously protected as national monuments. (Photo: Bob Wick/Bureau of Land Management/Flickr/cc)
Posted in Colorado Plateau Common Dreams Energy Environment Mining News Off the wire Public Lands Science Water

Trump’s final plan to open treasured public lands in Utah called ‘Sellout’ to big oil

The administration’s new managment plans “are the latest in a series of insults… that began when Trump illegally dismantled Bears Ears and Grand Staircase at the behest of corporate interests two years ago.” By Jessica Corbett,…

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