Public Lands in Danger Throughout the United States



Breaking News: 
Lease Auctions Start for BLM Lands in Colorado

Quick on the heels of the "One Big Beautiful Bill" and Secy. of the Interior Burgum's order to increase leasing and sales of public land (see comments), an auction was held on September 9 to turn over nearly 8,000 acres of public land to developers. The largest of these parcels was on a landfill and Superfund site near Aurora Reservoir, slated for about 150 wells to be installed by the Civitas oil and gas giant. 

The federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) oversees about 36 million acres in Colorado alone.  Another, larger auction is set for December 2025. 

 

Published December 2024

Five Hundred Million Acres of Public Lands at Risk 

Last month we were alerted to the dangers to old-growth forests from logging interests eyeing our national forests. That danger has grown with a hiring freeze at the National Forest Service and DOGE cuts sure to come. The U.S. Department of Agriculture oversees our national forests...does that give you a clearer idea of how these irreplaceable forest lands are viewed? Learn more about the threat in my blog post here, 

Now, we turn to the other public lands, our national parks, monuments, and wildernesses, as well as national trails, seashores, wild and scenic areas, battlefields, cemeteries, memorials, etc. There are also wildlife refuges in every state and conservation areas. Millions of acres, all managed by the Department of the Interior. Now, North Dakota, along with 11 other states, is suing the federal government to turn over these public lands to the states so they can be sold off for development by oil and gas companies. 

And who is proposed to replace Deb Haaland as Interior Secretary? None other than the governor of North Dakota, Doug Burgum. The New York Times reported that, "in April, Governor Burgum helped gather oil and gas executives at Mar-a-Lago for a now-infamous dinner, during which Mr. Trump suggested that they raise $1 billion for his campaign. Mr. Trump told the executives they would save far more than that in tax breaks and legal fees after he repealed Mr. Biden’s climate agenda."  

The fate of these 500-million-some acres of land becomes more dire by the day. Even in states that value and protect their wild lands like my Colorado, threats are growing. The president has been known to hold up emergency and disaster aid to states he does not favor and pockets the pen he uses to declare a national emergency. I have reported on some statewide actions being taken to try to Trump-proof our public lands and will continue to do so. For more information, read this interview with University of Colorado Denver Professor Deserai Anderson Crow in yesterday's Colorado Sun. 


 



 

Comments

  1. LeeJanuary 23, 2025 at 1:34 PM

    And it's happened. Just three days into his term, President Trump has halted funding on water projects in the four-state Colorado River basin. https://coloradosun.com/2025/01/23/17-colorado-environmental-projects-limbo-trump-fundinbiden-era-law/

    ReplyDelete
  2. LeeMarch 3, 2025 at 7:49 AM

    Here's a gift article on Trump's latest executive order to bypass Environmental Protection Agency safeguards to expand logging in national forests, allowing extinctions of endangered animals and species. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/02/climate/trump-logging-national-forests.html?unlocked_article_code=1.1E4.o6-Z.hWtB-CvKBOPF&smid=url-share

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  3. LeeAugust 30, 2025 at 3:07 PM

    David Treuer proposes a solution to the conundrum of national parks in danger--return them to the tribes. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/05/return-the-national-parks-to-the-tribes/618395/

    ReplyDelete
  4. LeeAugust 31, 2025 at 1:16 PM

    A Colorado county with 500,000 acres of public lands is moving fast to rezone them so they can't be sold off for residential development, logging, mining, or extractive industry: https://www.aspentimes.com/news/pitkin-county-takes-step-towards-rezoning-85-of-county-to-protect-against-land-sales/?utm_source=1500+CWP+List+Daily+Clips+and+Updates&utm_campaign=b2cd5ffcb5-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2025_07_28_04_31&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-b2cd5ffcb5-84322009

    ReplyDelete
  5. LeeSeptember 10, 2025 at 8:10 AM

    This is like a perpetual game of Whack-a-mole! Now, Interior Secretary Burgum has issued an order limiting how Land and Water Conservation Funds can be used. “It is rather stunning to see Secretary Burgum come in and, for no reason at all… really try to kneecap this conservation program,” said Aaron Weiss, deputy director at the Center for Western Priorities. He said the LWCF has been a successful bipartisan conservation program under past administrations.

    LWCF funds come from royalties paid by energy companies drilling for oil and gas. The new order would discourage the funds from being used to acquire land for conservation. It would also require state leaders to okay the sales of private lands, meaning that landowners can't sell to whomever they want. It is clear that the goal is to transfer more land into the hands of developers of oil and gas, construction, mining, or logging industries.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LeeSeptember 10, 2025 at 8:11 AM

      Link to more details: https://www.cpr.org/2025/09/10/interior-department-conservation-funding-changes-lwcf-public-lands-blm/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=lookout&utm_campaign=lookout20250910

      Delete

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