Protecting America’s Public Lands
Roughly 300 million acres of American lands, most in the West, are set aside as public lands and maintained using taxes paid by all Americans. These lands managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, and National Wildlife Refuge System are by charter supposed to be managed for multiple uses including recreation and provision of wildlife habitat and clean water sources. Increasingly, however, they are run for the benefit of extractive industries and with little regard for the preservation of the rare wildlife or iconic natural beauty for which they are famous.
With the help of conscientious range management specialists, scientists, law enforcement officers and other workers within these agencies, PEER is uncovering how our precious national heritage is being sold to the highest bidder, often under the direction of poorly qualified and illegally appointed political appointees.
Environmental and public health risks are being ignored by regulatory agencies and decisions heavily influenced by profit-driven industries.
REPORT | The Biden Administration’s Bureau of Land Management
As the Biden administration nears its halfway point, there are both encouraging signs of progress and plenty of room for growth when it comes to conserving public lands. Stronger leadership from the Biden administration and within federal land agencies is critical to act on both the climate and biodiversity crises. No public lands agency more epitomizes the challenges and opportunities ahead than the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) – the country’s largest land manager at more than 245 million acres.
Mapping Rangeland Health
Our interactive BLM Rangeland Health Standards Evaluation Data (2020) on MangoMaps is based on data from 2020, obtained via the Freedom of Information Act. PEER worked with a former BLM contractor to analyze what these records reveal about the condition of our public lands and BLM’s discharge of its duties to safeguard them.
Op-Ed | The BLM Is Ignoring Its Most Serious Land-Health Problem
This head-in-the-sand approach to destructive livestock grazing has to stop.
NEWS FROM PEER
Lack of Seeds and Botanists Crimp National Seed Strategy
Botanist Ranks in Federal Land Management Agencies Fell 20% Since 2015
PEERMail | PEER Sues EPA to Uncover Toxic Health and Safety Data
One of the most important things we do is sue government agencies when they refuse to release important information necessary to protect the public’s well-being.
Point Reyes Sweetheart Cattle Leases are Illegal
Dairy and Beef Ranches on Seashore Pay Far Below Fair Market Value
Feds Put Minnesota DNR Logging on a Short Leash
Prior Certification: No Wildlife/Aquatic Habitat Harm in Timber Projects
Poor National Park Service Morale Shows Scant Improvement
Staff Skeptical of Top Leadership’s Integrity, Credibility, and Competence
Whistleblower Prevails after Appeal Challenge by USGS
Microbiologist Targeted for Reporting Animal Welfare & Biosafety Failures
Endangered Prairie Chicken Suffers Death by 1,000 Cuts
New Mexico Oil & Gas Drilling Waivers Rubberstamped in LPC Range
COMMENTARY | PEER’s Response to Interior’s Law Enforcement Report
The Department of Interior’s long-awaited report highlighted the declining staffing levels within its agencies, especially NPS and BLM.
National Park Service Punts on Plastic Reduction
No Concrete Action for Years as Parks Ink New Plastic Bottle Concessions
Bad Actors Awarded Top Park Service Jobs
Allergy to Accountability Afflicting Park Service Undermines Morale
Trans-Alaska Pipeline: Gaping Climate Blind Spot
No Federal Assessments of Climate Change Impacts Upon or From Pipeline
Park Service Mired in Reform Malaise
Rising Attrition, Growing Dissatisfaction, and Glacial Leadership Response
Lawsuit Demands BLM Step Up Range Health Protections
Agency Let Go of Oversight Reins on 155-Million Acre Livestock Program
COMMENTARY | DNR Logging Violations on Fisheries and Wildlife Lands
Minnesota DNR failed to protect the natural resources they have been entrusted to manage, allowing logging to supersede habitat and wildlife.
Op-Ed | The BLM Is Ignoring Its Most Serious Land-Health Problem
This head-in-the-sand approach to destructive livestock grazing has to stop.
Minnesota Timber Practices Draw Sharp Federal Scrutiny
Joint Inspections of Logging in Wildlife and Aquatic Management Areas
Rampant Grazing Trespassing Goes Unpunished
Whistleblower Faces Suspension for Saying BLM Lacks “Gumption”
“P” in PEER Also Stands for Persistent
Persistence pays off for PEER even in the battle for the skies of national parks.
BLM Data Measuring Rangeland Health Not Available
Suit to Uncover Success of Efforts to Reverse Severe Livestock Eco-Damage
Laudable or laughable? Southern Utahns, others talk Biden’s proposed public lands rule
President Joe Biden’s administration proposed a new public lands rule emphasizing conservation. The “Conservation and Landscape Health” rule, first proposed in March, lists conservation as a use of BLM lands on par with grazing, recreation and resource extraction,...