Sustainability
Endangered species to get a reprieve under Biden administration plans
WASHINGTON — The lesser prairie-chicken, a rare dancing grouse once abundant on the Great Plains, could benefit again soon from the protection of the U.S. government. So could the rusty patched bumblebee, a black-headed pollinator that at one time ranged from Georgia to Maine and across the Midwest. The Biden administration is rewriting how it […]
Biden public lands nominee opposed by GOP over link to 1989 tree-spiking in Idaho
Republicans in the U.S. Senate are ramping up opposition to President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Bureau of Land Management after a conservative news site and other news reports detailed her connection to an Idaho tree-spiking scheme three decades ago. Without GOP support, Montana’s Tracy Stone-Manning would need the votes of every Democrat in […]
Nevadans want national monument over wind farm
Spurred by the possible development of a wind farm, a coalition of Nevada lawmakers, tribes, conservationists and local residents are pushing for the creation of a national monument in Clark County. In March, Crescent Peak Renewables, a subsidiary of Swedish-owned Eolus North America, submitted a Bureau of Land Management application for a 9,154-acre wind energy […]
Federal judge halts Biden pause on new oil and gas leases across the U.S.
A federal judge in Louisiana has ordered the Biden administration to restart regular sales of oil and gas leases, forcing the administration to prematurely abandon a central piece of its climate change agenda. In a preliminary ruling issued Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty granted the request of Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry and 12 other Republican-led […]
True impact of highly lauded clean energy bill unclear, say environmental groups
Nevada hopes to become a national leader in clean energy, but some activists are concerned about what might be sacrificed along the way. The problem of green policy being not-so-green, or not-so-just, has become a familiar one in Nevada. Lithium mining helps electric vehicles but might harm Indigenous communities nearby, creating “sacrifice zones.” The Clark […]
Opposition to lithium mine grows among tribes, conservationists
A planned lithium mine on an ancient collapsed volcano is facing growing pushback from tribal nations, ranchers and conservationists. In January, the Bureau of Land Management approved the Thacker Pass lithium mine five days before the end of Donald Trump’s presidency. It was one of several projects fast-tracked in the last days of the Trump […]
Earmarks list for states in U.S. House infrastructure bill tops $5.7B, includes 11 NV projects
WASHINGTON — U.S. House Democrats’ highway funding bill is poised to include roughly three out of five transportation projects submitted by members, as legislators vie for their share of federal dollars through the resurrected congressional earmarks process. The 1,473 projects that made the cut were out of 2,383 that Democratic and Republican legislators requested for inclusion in […]
Public lands pick fends off objections from U.S. Senate Republicans
Republicans on the U.S. Senate Energy Committee on Tuesday grilled public lands nominee Tracy Stone-Manning of Montana about her past opposition to an “energy dominance” agenda, as well as her 2020 support for the Democratic challenger to a GOP senator from her home state who sits on the committee. The sometimes rancorous hearing previewed a […]
Biden’s public lands pick wins backing by environmental advocates ahead of hearing
Environmental groups are lining up behind President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Bureau of Land Management prior to her Tuesday confirmation hearing. More than 100 organizations wrote to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, (D-N.Y.), and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, (R-Ky.), Monday asking that the Senate confirm Tracy Stone-Manning, a Montanan who led conservation and […]
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 […]
Agency finds protections warranted for wildflower on site of proposed lithium mine
A rare desert wildflower known to only grow in Nevada should be protected under the Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Thursday. The agency determined the Tiehm’s buckwheat warrants federal protection and by September 30, 2021 will submit a proposed rule to list the species. The decision comes after a conservation […]
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, […]