Bureau of Land Management

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Who's the Most Gorgeous Bat Around? You Decide

Bureau of Land Management holds its annual online beauty contest for the flying mammals

(Newser) - Move over, Fat Bear Week . A bat beauty contest is now stepping up to the plate. The Bureau of Land Management has hosted the online competition since 2019 to raise awareness about the animal's ecological importance. The federal agency posts photos of bats on its Facebook and Instagram accounts,...

'There's Gold Up There'; a Death Valley Controversy

Environmentalist, tribes vow to fight plans for open-pit mine near national park

(Newser) - "There’s gold up there and the world needs gold," Stephen Swatton, president of international mining company K2 Gold, says of an area of desert terrain next to California's Death Valley National Park. But opponents including the Sierra Club and native tribes say the plan to mine...

Judge to Acting Public Lands Chief: You're Out

William Pendley removed from role after ruling says he's been 'unlawfully' serving for 424 days

(Newser) - He had a good, but apparently illegal, run. William Perry Pendley got some bad news Friday via a federal judge, who ordered the 75-year-old to be removed as the head of the Bureau of Land Management, a role he'd held for 424 days without Senate confirmation. "Pendley has...

Burning Man Says It Is Being Gouged by Feds

Organizers say excessive fees are endangering festival

(Newser) - There are no ATMs at the freewheeling Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert—but organizers say the federal government is treating them like one. In a lawsuit filed earlier this month, festival organizers accuse the Bureau of Land Management of overcharging them in annual fees over the last seven...

Hunters, Eco-Activists Unite Against Federal 'Land Grab'

Controversial bill withdrawn, for now

(Newser) - Conservationists of all kinds are protesting a Republican lawmaker's proposal for the "disposal" of an area of federal land the size of Connecticut—and their outcry seems to have worked, for now. The House bill introduced by Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz called for the immediate sale of 3....

Feds: We Have No Plans to Kill Wild Horses

Recommendation created an online uproar

(Newser) - Don't fear the plight of wild horses just yet. An online uproar ensued this week after a federal advisory panel recommended killing 45,000 such horses and burros, but Reuters reports that no such plans are in the works. It quotes a spokesman for the US Bureau of Land...

Feds Want to Destroy 45K Wild Horses

Holding pens are overcrowded; critics say Bureau of Land Management is mismanaging

(Newser) - There are 45,000 horses no one wants, and the US government is suggesting destroying them all, the Verge reports. In what an exec for the Humane Society calls "a complete abdication of responsibility for their care," the Bureau of Land Management's National Wild Horse and Burro...

A Cyclist Stops to Poop, Ends Up Starting Wildfire

Bureau of Land Management has advice for those heeding nature's call

(Newser) - Pooping in the wilderness is something Smokey Bear probably wouldn't have that big a problem with—but burning your toilet paper afterward is a different story. The Bureau of Land Management says a mountain biker in Idaho started a 73-acre blaze in the Boise foothills on Wednesday afternoon after...

Idaho Offers Prizes to Coyote-Killing Kids

Predator-killing contest began at sunrise today

(Newser) - A controversial contest to kill as many wolves and coyotes as possible began at sunrise today—with $1,000 prizes for the overall winners and rifles for winners in the 10-13 and 14-17 age categories. The hunting derby is going ahead on Forest Service and private land over the next...

ATV Riders, Bundy Son Protest Feds in Utah

Cliven Bundy son is among out-of-state supporters at illegal rally

(Newser) - The showdown between citizens and feds over federally administered lands spread yesterday to Utah, where about 50 people took to their ATVs in a protest that sought to reclaim access to a canyon that had been closed to vehicles since 2007. "It’s a county road," says the...

Nev. Lawmaker: Get Bundy Militia Out

He wants state to 'get rid of armed separatists'

(Newser) - Most of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy's conservative allies backed away after his "Negro" remarks —but there are still plenty of heavily armed militia members camped around his ranch and neighbors are becoming uneasy, a Democratic congressman says. At a public event over the weekend, Rep. Steven Horsford...

Rancher Bundy Explains the 'Negro'

Rand Paul and other supporters quickly start distancing themselves

(Newser) - Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy became a hero in some libertarian and conservative circles for his standoff with federal authorities over grazing rights earlier this month. But then he kept talking. The New York Times today quotes him thusly:
  • “I want to tell you one more thing I know about
...

In Shootout With Feds, We'd 'Put Women at Front': Ex-Sheriff

Richard Mack explains strategy in Nevada cattle showdown

(Newser) - Fortunately, a face-off between a rancher's supporters—some armed—and federal officials concluded peacefully in Nevada on Saturday. Had it not, a former Arizona sheriff had a plan: "We were actually strategizing to put all the women up at the front" near the feds, Richard Mack told Fox...

Feds Halt Roundup of Rancher's Cattle, Fearing for Safety

Officials, protesters faced off earlier this week

(Newser) - After a confrontation between locals and federal officials this week, the US has ended a Nevada cattle roundup early, CNN reports. "We have made a decision to conclude the cattle gather because of our serious concern about the safety of employees and members of the public," said Neil...

Endangered US Tortoises to Be Euthanized

Funding for Las Vegas-area conservation center dries up

(Newser) - For decades, the vulnerable US desert tortoise has led a sheltered existence on a sprawling conservation reserve outside Las Vegas. But the pampered desert dweller now faces a threat from the very people who have nurtured it. Federal funds are running out at the Desert Tortoise Conservation Center and officials...

Interior Secretary Apologizes for Threatening Reporter

'I'll punch you out,' Ken Salazar told Colorado reporter

(Newser) - Interior Secretary Ken Salazar apologized today for threatening to punch a Colorado reporter who asked him about problems with the government's wild horse program at a campaign event. Salazar called Dave Philipps, a reporter with the Gazette of Colorado Springs, to apologize and offer him an interview, and he...

New Shrimp-y Species Found in NM Cave

Carlsbad Caverns yields tiny translucent critters

(Newser) - Shrimp kebabs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo ... now add "blind, tiny, and almost translucent" shrimp to the list: Scientists have discovered a new shrimp-like species in a cave near Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. "You never know what you're going to find down there," says a...

US Won't Restrict Shooting on Federal Land

Interior Department backtracks on earlier proposal

(Newser) - Score one for gun owners: The Interior Department is backtracking on a plan to restrict target shooting on federal land, reports MSNBC . Interior chief Ken Salazar today ordered that the draft proposal be shelved. It would have curbed the practice in areas deemed to have too many people living nearby....

Feds OK Giant Christo River Art

Artist aims to install fabric panels over 42-mile stretch of Colo. river

(Newser) - After 18 years and $7 million, the artist Christo has won federal approval for his controversial plan to wrap a 42-mile stretch of Colorado's Arkansas River. The New York-based artist, known for his larger-than-life outdoor projects, aims to install 5.9 miles of fabric in segments over the river,...

Biggest-Ever Solar Plant Wins OK in Calif.

Desert installation will double America's solar power capacity

(Newser) - Federal regulators have green-lighted the world's largest solar power installation. The Blythe Solar Power Plant, to be built on 7,000 acres of public land in California, will double the amount of solar energy the US can produce, the Los Angeles Times reports. The German company behind the project aims...

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