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Environment

New Documents Reveal More About Alleged Ethics Violations at the Department of the Interior

Public records reveal additional details about top political appointee Timothy Williams' meeting with his former employer, the Koch-backed group Americans for Prosperity.

Jimmy Tobias

A view from the north of the Valley of the Gods, one of the areas excised from Bears Ears National Monument by President Donald Trump's December 4th, 2017, proclamation.

News in Brief

Bears Ears Now Has the Support of Its Home County’s Leadership

The San Juan County commission voted two-to-one in favor of a resolution that rescinds the county's previous opposition to the monument and condemns its reduction by Donald Trump.

Rebecca Worby

A House Bill Would Expand Bears Ears to 1.9 Million Acres

The bill would restore the areas excised from the monument by Trump, and add additional acreage.

Rebecca Worby

One Year After Trump Shrank Two Utah Monuments, More Than Half a Million Comments Weigh in on Future Plans

Advocacy groups say that's an unprecedented show of public interest.

Rebecca Worby

Honoring Public Lands in the Trump Era

For National Public Lands Day, we're highlighting some of our favorite stories on the past, present, and future of public lands in America.

Alexa Lee

A hiker makes his way up a trail to Calf Creek in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument on May 10th, 2017.

Environment

The Trump Administration Is Moving Forward With Plans for Scaled-Down Utah Monuments

But to those awaiting the outcome of legal challenges to the president's reductions, the planning seems premature.

Rebecca Worby

The two bluffs known as the Bears Ears stand off in the distance in Bears Ears National Monument.

Social Justice

How Shrinking Bears Ears Is an Attack on Native Americans’ Religious Freedom

Many native peoples have land-based religions, and the Trump administration's moves to open sacred areas to resource exploitation threatens the free practice of their faith.

Rosalyn R. LaPier

Sandstone formations on the western edge of the Bears Ears National Monument outside Blanding, Utah.

Environment

A Judge Rules That Trump Can Keep Secret His Reasons for Shrinking Our National Monuments

A judge says the administration doesn't have to turn over legal documents for which an environmental law firm had sued.

Rebecca Worby

Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke has been the subject of at least 15 investigations into his conduct, one of which was referred to the Department of Justice late last month.

Environment

Public Lands Advocates Respond to New Revelations From the DOI’s ‘Sham Review’ of National Monuments

Documents accidentally shared by the Department of the Interior reveal the prioritization of energy, ranching, and logging in the monuments review.

Rebecca Worby

The Lede, Issue #16: A Tool for Tackling Sexual Assault, Experiments in Biochar, Shrinking Bears Ears, and More

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Pacific Standard Staff