Public Lands

National parks that remain open during the shutdown have seen a number of issues as a result of understaffing, including litter and vandalism.

• By Rebecca Worby

David Bernhardt, who will step in to fill the role, is a lawyer and lobbyist with strong fossil fuel and water industry ties.

• By Rebecca Worby

The documents went back up two days after a newspaper reported their removal, and just 12 days before the close of the plan's public comment period.

• By Francie Diep

One webpage, now removed, touted the current policies' successes—and praised the bird's mating dances.

• By Francie Diep

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

• By Rebecca Worby

Amy Irvine, the author of Desert Cabal, discusses what it means to write about public lands in the shadow of Abbey's classic.

• By Rebecca Worby

A new report assesses the greenhouse gas emissions attributable to coal, oil, and gas on public lands.

• By Francie Diep

Under the Bureau of Land Management's plan, close to 700,000 acres of previously protected land would be open to drilling and mining.

• By Rebecca Worby

On the latest episode of Pacific Standard's podcast about how our stories are made, we talk with contributor Jimmy Tobias about his investigation into Ryan Zinke's DOI.

• By Pacific Standard Staff

The former director of the Department of the Interior's policy office opens up about where the agency went wrong—and how to save it.

• By Joel Clement

California loves its locally sourced meat and dairy, but conservationists claim the foodie trend can cause serious damage to the state's grasslands.

• By Laura Fraser

After securing over $500 million in March to build a border barrier, the Department of Homeland Security has begun laying the foundation for the first miles of Donald Trump's long-promised wall. The blueprint bisects federally protected public lands and dismembers private property that's been passed down for generations.

• By David Leffler

New documents obtained by Pacific Standard show the scope of Utah's efforts to roll back key protections for public lands across the country.

• By Jimmy Tobias

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

• By Alexa Lee

Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke didn't see the Bureau of Land Management's draft plan beforehand; he only learned the details when he read about them in the news.

• By Rebecca Worby

New data on voter purges emerges, companies will no longer pay for their damage to public lands, and the Department of Energy gets some heat for an old tweet.

• By Rebecca Worby

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

• By Rebecca Worby

Senator Mike Lee of Utah wants to take away public lands. His reasons are all wrong.

• By Jimmy Tobias

There is nothing more #MAGA than cowboys running the West.

• By Leah Sottile

No other president in the last 50 years has attempted to shrink the national monuments designated by his predecessors.

• By Morgan Baskin

The results of Idaho's gubernatorial primaries suggest a positive shift for conservation.

• By Jimmy Tobias

Through a series of essays, Miller reminds us what it's like to feel a sense of awe when confronted with nature's beauty.

• By James McWilliams

Ranchers on BLM land have 94 percent of their grazing costs covered by taxpayers. And they target wild horses for removal in order to preserve the rangeland that makes this financial windfall possible.

• By James McWilliams

Public records show that a senior DOI adviser has met with mining and fossil-fuel representatives far more than she has with environmentalists.

• By Jimmy Tobias