Bureau of Land Management Archives

Biden Admin Bans Future Leasing in Montana and Wyoming

December 1, 2024 Daily Caller News Foundation

The Biden administration moved on Thanksgiving eve to bar future coal leasing in the Powder River Basin, one of America’s most coal-rich regions, according to multiple reports.

The Powder River Basin, a region that spans parts of Montana and Wyoming, accounted for about 43% of U.S. coal in 2019, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The administration made its move to formally end coal leasing in the area and roll back previous approvals for development plans on Wednesday as Americans prepared to enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday, according to E&E News.

Utah, Other Western States Ask Supreme Court to Return Millions of Acres of Land Back to the States

November 29, 2024 Kaitlin Housler

A map of the U.S. showing land under federal control paints large swaths of the West. In August, Utah filed a lawsuit against the federal government, arguing that it’s unconstitutional for the feds to retain unappropriated land in a state indefinitely.

Since the lawsuit was filed, a dozen other states, including Idaho, Alaska and Wyoming, have filed briefs asking the court to hear the case. Additionally, a coalition of counties in Arizona and New Mexico, the Pacific Legal Foundation, the Utah Legislature and the Wyoming Legislature have also filed briefs in support of the lawsuit.

Utah Takes Federal Government to Court over Control of Land

August 25, 2024August 25, 2024 The Center Square

The state of Utah wants the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its lawsuit against the federal government.

At issue is the federal government’s control of unappropriated lands, lands that Utah says the federal government is holding indefinitely.

Wyoming Delegation Warns Interior Secretary Block on Coal Leasing Threatens Grid Reliability

July 21, 2024 Just the News

Wyoming’s Congressional delegation is warning Interior Secretary Deb Haaland that a proposed amendment to the Resource Master Plan (RMP) for the Bureau of Land Management’s Buffalo field office would have dire consequences on the nation’s grid and economy.

In their letter Tuesday, Rep. Harriet Hagamen and Sens. John Barrasso andCynthia Lummis, Republicans, explained that roughly 40% of all coal mined in the U.S. comes from Wyoming and most of that in the Powder River Basin.

Alaska Natives File Lawsuit Challenging Federal Overreach in Wake of SCOTUS ‘Chevron’ Ruling

July 15, 2024 Just the News

Alaska Natives are fighting back against the Biden administration’s decision to shut down oil and gas development in northern Alaska, which they say is vital to the prosperity and well being of their communities.

The Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat (VOICE), a nonprofit advocacy group for Native-American communities living on the state’s North Slope, filed a lawsuit Monday against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland over the final BLM’s final rule blocking 13 million acres in their region to oil and gas development.

Department of Interior Shuts Down Millions of Acres of Alaska to All Oil, Gas and Mining Activity

July 10, 2024 Just the News

Department of Interior Secretary Deb Haaland

The Interior Department last Friday blocked 28 million acres of federal land in the state of Alaska from any mining or oil and gas development.

Rick Whitbeck, Alaska state director for Power The Future, said the decision on D-1 lands removes an area the size of the state of Pennsylvania from resource development, which will have severe energy impact to the nation and the state of Alaska.

Wyoming Sues Biden Administration over Fossil Fuel Ban

June 24, 2024 Just the News

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has been chipping away at the oil, gas and coal industries ever since President Joe Biden took office. Wyoming is an energy state that produces half the nation’s coal, as well as part of its oil and gas output. Since the federal government owns nearly half the state’s land, virtually all oil, gas and coal operations in the Cowboy State are heavily impacted by every rule the BLM throws at fossil fuels.

Although the Biden administration is waging war on fossil fuels, Wyoming is fighting back. The state, along with Utah, filed a lawsuit against the agency last Tuesday over its restoration lease program, and Rep. Harriett Hageman, R-Wyo., is rolling out legislation to fight back against the BLM’s proposed ban on federal coal leases.

Biden Admin Looks to Move Proposed Wind Farm Away from WW2 Memorial After Local Backlash

June 12, 2024 Minnesota Sun Staff

The Biden administration is looking to shrink and move a proposed onshore wind project in Idaho after receiving considerable pushback from local residents, according to The Associated Press.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recently published its final environmental review for Idaho’s Lava Ridge wind project, specifying its preference to see the project scaled down by nearly 50 percent and moved several more miles away from a World War II memorial dedicated to interned Japanese-Americans in the area, according to the AP. The project has drawn intense opposition from locals, in large part because of concern that its presence would undermine the experience for those visiting the memorial site, known as the Minidoka National Historic Site.

Critics Blast Biden Administration’s New ‘Conservation Leases,’ Which They Say are Illegal

April 22, 2024 Just the News

The Biden administration Friday rolled out three decisions aimed at greatly restricting oil and gas drilling, as well as mining activities needed for renewable energy, on public land.

The decisions include shutting down the Ambler Access Road project, which would have opened up part of Alaska to mining needed for renewable energy, and blocking oil and gas drilling on up to 13 million acres of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.

Biden Admin Shuts Down Future Oil and Gas Activity on Thousands of Acres

September 20, 2023 Minnesota Sun Staff

The Biden administration announced Monday that it has moved to shut down future oil, gas and mining activity on thousands of acres of New Mexico land for the next 50 years.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), a sub-agency of the Department of the Interior (DOI), issued the Monday proposal to block new oil, gas and mineral extraction activity on 4,000 acres of land in Sandoval County, New Mexico, according to a DOI press release. The proposal is motivated by the agency’s desire to safeguard tribal cultures and recreational activity in the area, and the policy would last for 50 years if finalized.

Biden Admin Proposes New Rule to Jack Up Prices for Oil and Gas Leases

July 24, 2023 Minnesota Sun Staff

The Biden administration unveiled a new oil and gas leasing rule proposal Thursday that would jack up prices at nearly every stage of the public land leasing process.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), a subagency of the Department of the Interior (DOI), issued the rule proposal Thursday in an effort to adopt a “more transparent, inclusive and just approach” to federal oil and gas leasing on public lands and “[provide] a fair return to taxpayers,” Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management Laura Daniel-Davis said, according to a Thursday DOI press release. The rule nominally aims to boost land conservation efforts, but it would do so by massively increasing minimum bid thresholds and required per-acre fees for energy interests and developers to pay.

Eco Activists Sue to Stop U.S. Oil and Gas Lease Sales

July 5, 2022July 4, 2022 Admin

Environmental groups sued the Interior Department Tuesday to challenge the first oil and gas lease sale on public lands during the Biden administration.

A coalition of environmental groups led by Dakota Resource Council filed a lawsuit in in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, alleging that the sales violate the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, which requires that the Interior Department prevent “unnecessary or undue degradation” of public lands.

Biden Bashed for Action That Could Ban Minnesota Mining Project

October 26, 2021October 25, 2021 The Center Square

President Joe Biden’s administration wants to lead an electric vehicle (EV) revolution, but apparently doesn’t want domestic production of rare earth minerals vital to EVs.

The Biden administration announced a two-year study on a proposed Twin Metals copper-nickel mine in northeast Minnesota that could delay it for 20 years and stop one of the few planned copper-nickel mines in the nation while the U.S attempts to pivot to EVs from gasoline-powered internal combustion vehicles.

Watchdog Demands Inspector General Investigation into Tracy Stone-Manning’s Allegedly False Statements About Eco-Terrorism Case

October 13, 2021 Admin

A government watchdog group demanded that the Department of the Interior Inspector General launch an investigation into whether President Joe Biden’s Senate-confirmed Bureau of Land Management director nominee violated the False Statement Act with statements she made to Congress about her involvement in a 1989 eco-terrorism case during her confirmation process.

Tracy Stone-Manning was confirmed to lead the agency along a party-line vote on Sept. 30 amid strong opposition from Republicans who accused her of lying to the Senate Energy Committee about her involvement in an eco-terrorism case. Stone-Manning testified in federal court in 1993 that she sent an anonymous, threatening letter to the Forest Service in 1989 on behalf of her former roommate and friend which warned that a local forest in Idaho had been sabotaged with tree spikes to make the trees unsafe to log.

Senate Confirms Alleged Eco-Terrorist Collaborator to Lead Bureau of Land Management

October 3, 2021October 2, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

The Senate vote 50-45 on a party-line vote Thursday to confirm President Joe Biden’s Bureau of Land Management nominee amid strong opposition from Republicans and former Obama administration officials over the nominee’s involvement in a 1989 eco-terrorism incident.

The nominee, Tracy Stone-Manning, failed to win a single Republican vote amid accusations she lied to the Senate Energy Committee over her involvement in the 1989 Clearwater National Forest tree-spiking case. All 48 Senate Democrats and the two independent senators who caucus with the party voted in favor of Stone-Manning’s nomination to lead the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which oversees 245 million acres of public lands.

Judge Blocks Massive Alaskan Oil Drilling Project Backed by Trump and Biden

August 20, 2021August 19, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

A federal judge blocked a massive Alaskan oil drilling project Wednesday after ruling that the Interior Department inadequately measured its environmental impact.

Judge Sharon Gleason of the U.S. District Court of the District of Alaska wrote in her opinion that the Bureau of Land Management’s assessment of the ConocoPhillips’ Willow project was “arbitrary and capricious,” noting that it did not even include the likely level of greenhouse gas emissions in its environmental impact report.

Biden Nominee Helped Edit Radical Paper That Gloated the Feds Were Bungling Investigation into Tree Spiking Plot

August 6, 2021August 5, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Bureau of Land Management was an editor for an issue of the radical Earth First journal that contained a non-bylined story gloating that federal investigators were bungling their investigation into an eco-terrorism incident the nominee was directly involved in.

The nominee, Tracy Stone-Manning, was one of the six members of the editorial collective for the June 21, 1991, edition of the radical environmental journal. One of the only stories in the 40-page issue that did not contain an author byline was a story celebrating the Forest Service’s move to deactivate their investigation into the 1989 Clearwater National Forest tree spiking incident in the absence of any solid leads.

All 10 Republican Members of Senate Energy Committee Sign Letter Urging Biden to Withdraw BLM Nominee over ‘Eco-Terrorism’ Ties

July 16, 2021July 16, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

The 10 Republican members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee signed a letter Wednesday calling on President Joe Biden to withdraw his nominee to lead the Bureau of Land Management in a letter Wednesday over her involvement in a 1989 eco-terrorism incident.

Commentary: The Federal Government Hoards So Much Land It Doesn’t Even Know How Much It Has

September 10, 2019September 10, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

It is well-known that the federal government has a spending problem, but it is less well-known that the government also has a hoarding a problem. As most Western state residents know, the federal government likes to hoard land.

Conservative Lawyer Named Acting Head of Bureau of Land Management

August 5, 2019August 5, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

Conservative lawyer William Perry Pendley was appointed acting chief of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management this week in a move by the Trump administration that drew the ire of environmental groups.

Obama-Appointed Judge Blocks Wyoming Oil Lease Sale Over ‘Climate Change’

March 22, 2019March 21, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

by Tim Pearce A federal judge temporarily blocked new oil lease auctions in Wyoming on Tuesday after finding the Department of the Interior “did not sufficiently consider climate change” when proposing the lease sales, The Washington Post reports. Washington D.C. District Court Judge Rudolph Contreras ruled the government violated…

Report: Years of Bad Land Management Led to One of California’s Most Devastating Wildfires

December 19, 2018December 18, 2018 Minnesota Sun Staff

by Jason Hopkins An in-depth investigation found that federal, state and local governments were aware of California’s vulnerability to wildfires, but failed to take the necessary steps to prevent its devastation. California residents have recently been forced to deal with some of the worst wildfires in the state’s history.…

Hundreds Of Federal Employees Will Be Moved Out Of Washington, D.C.

August 12, 2018March 19, 2020 Admin

by Tim Pearce The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is moving two agencies and roughly 700 federal employees out of Washington, D.C., to save money and improve the department’s service to taxpayers. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced Thursday that the Economic Research Service (ERS) and the National Institute of Food and…

The Department of the Interior Will Pay 1,900 Local Governments $553 Million in ‘Lost Tax Revenue’ in 2018

July 15, 2018July 14, 2018 Admin

by Daniel Di Martino Over 1,900 local governments received $553 million from the Department of Interior this year to compensate them for lost tax revenue for federal lands that cannot be developed in their territory. These payments are the consequence of more than 640 million acres of land, which amounts to 28 percent of…

DENIED: Judge In The Bundy Trial Spikes Prosecutors’ Plea For One Last Shot At A Conviction

July 5, 2018July 4, 2018 Admin

by Tim Pierce A federal judge rejected prosecutors’ request Tuesday to reconsider her dismissal of the case against Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, his two sons and friend Ryan Payne. U.S. District Judge Gloria M. Navarro dismissed conspiracy charges against the four men on Jan. 8 after finding that prosecutors…